Feb 6, 2012

SEARCH AND RESCUE

It all started with a lovely little red wreath.

A few weeks ago during a trip to the Michael's, Aunt Chrissy carefully selected a lovely little red heart wreath for her front door. "I'll put this up for Valentine's Day", she said. "Then once Spring comes, I'll change it to my hydrangea wreath."

I, of course, was probably lost in some craft store haze, and I'm sure I muttered to myself something along the lines of "Why do they have the freakin' Valentine's decorations out now? It's only November." Or something to that effect.

The lovely little red wreath is, naturally, absolutely perfect on Aunt Chrissy's front door, and in the evenings when the street light comes on you want to walk right up her front sidewalk and peek in the windows to see if the rest of her house is as lovely as the porch.

For the record, it is.

When you walk into Aunt Chrissy's house, it always smells nice. I'm not sure what it is exactly, but it's fresh and homey and warm and inviting. Then, within seconds of stepping in the door there is a bouncy, happy little dog smothering you with kisses, and he wiggles his heiney and wags his tail and lets you know that he has no use for silk smoking jackets. (Or sarcasm.) Every vignette or wall is decorated perfectly without looking "stagey", and all you want to do is kick your shoes off and curl up on the big couch and look around. There's stitching everywhere, and when you really look at it carefully, you can see the entire history of Aunt Chrissy's life. You can see the piece that she worked on when she took Dad to chemo, the pillows that she stitched when she was still in Phoenix, and even a few pieces that she stitched when she first came to Indiana and spent hours and hours and hours up in the studio. In short, Aunt Chrissy's house is a very very happy place.

This is all by way of explanation of why I had a full-on ugly cry meltdown last Thursday night and how my little sister singlehandedly got rid of a bad case of the Mean Reds.

I'm not sure if it's the goofy weather or an impending stitchy slump or the lack of Jeffrey Dean Morgan sightings, but I have been an absolute pill. Pouty and grumpy and whiny and very very high maintenance.

(Anybody who knows me will tell you that this condition is actually not new at all, but rather a general state of being for me these last 45 years or so, but what do they know?)

Anywhoo, on Thursday night I dropped Aunt Chrissy off after our weekly grocery shopping and I came home and sat down in the middle of my bathroom floor and threw what can only be described as a Veruca Salt hissy fit of epic proportions.

"Why can't I have anything nice?" I moaned. "I hate my house and my stupid decorations and my big empty walls and my ugly front door and my plain old rooms and..and...and" (insert hiccupy ugly cry here).

Apparently, the sight of that lovely little red wreath was enough to send me into hysterics, and I did my level best to play Single White Female until I got exactly what I wanted, which is apparently the ability to be exactly like my little sister and to live in a house that's cozy and nice and not at all like a bus station.

Stewey poked his head in to see what all of the fuss was about, and then I assume that he picked up the phone and called his Aunt Chrissy to request a rescue, because before I knew it my shoes were on and we were standing in the Targets looking for new bath towels. Then it was on to the Michael's to find something for MY front door, and finally, we ended up at the Bed Bath and Freakin Beyond for a painting that magically has the name "Constance" in it .

She started with my front door and she didn't stop until she had transformed my crappy, dumpy, ugly little house into something wonderful. I'm pretty sure that we made eighteen trips to various and sundry places, but the end result is a very very happy spinster who now lives in a very very happy house.

(By the way, another way of saying all of this is: Once upon a time, I was throwing a tantrum at the bottom of a very deep dark well. Aunt Chrissy heard my whining, took out her little flashlight, and hollered down "What's the matter, Sissy? Dry your eyes and grab my hand and we'll make it all better".)

And then she did.

So here's a few pics of her work. I confess that I'm a little apprehensive to post photos of a bathroom, but you get what I'm trying to show you, right?

Look what she did for the Big White Wall of Nothingness! (And yes, I know that the tags are still on the flowers, but we wanted to make sure that they worked there before ripping them all off.) OH! And did you notice the spanky new lampshade? The wattage of the light bulb stayed the same, but I no longer have to wear a miner's hat to see things in here at night! Woo Hoo!



Ahhhh. My front door. (You'll be happy to know that Aunt Chrissy already selected the flowers for March and that they are ready to go.) (Stewey wholeheartedly approves.)


And last, but not least is my new bathroom. Doesn't it look like a woman lives here now instead of a herd of frat boys? (P.S. Who doesn't LOVE some purple?) (Oh, and the painting with the flower has a bunch of French words written on it, and very clearly in the upper left corner is my name...Constance!)

So that's my story for today. Thank you for indulging my need for a "Look at meeeee"moment, but I really wanted you to know that there is no reason whatsoever to feel at all sorry for the likes of me. I might have a dog who ties my tiny little brain up in knots just for the fun of it, but I do have a sister (er, um, I mean caretaker) who MORE than makes up for it!

Happy Monday!

32 comments:

  1. love your new bathroom look, its absolutely georgeous and very elegant :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love the changes you made, but you had a beautiful home before. Love the purple in the bathroom. Always enjoy your blog. Stitching tomorrow???? Have a great day. Cindy

    ReplyDelete
  3. My sister is like that for me... aren't sisters simply wonderful?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ooooh I love the purple in the bathroom...but but...I can see in the mirror you have a bidet in there too! Oh now THAT is nice!!!!

    The front door decoration is beautiful too!

    ReplyDelete
  5. LoriU - I don't think that is a bidet... I think it is Stewey's Hot Tub (for when he needs to get away from you-know-who).....

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm glad you got our of your funk Coni, I know exactly how it feels. When I take my little walks around my subdivision I usally come home and feel my house looks lousy after peeking in everyone else'shouse that seems to be professionally decorated. I think part of it may be we just get tired of looking at the same old stuff. I've always thought your home looks lovely so I'm sure it's even better now! At least you don't have a grumpy husband who freaks out everytime you want to put a nail in the wall and won't let you put one on the front door either. SIGH...............

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow! Glad you had such a great time redoing your house with Aunt Chrissy. Even little improvements makes such a difference. Enjoy you new cozy home.

    ReplyDelete
  8. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the look in the bathroom. Very regal looking, but also inviting.

    As for the big blank white wall --- ever thought of painting it a bold accent color? Everything you now have hanging on it would really POP if you did. Maybe even the same purple you used in the bathroom! I'm giving lots of "oooooo's" and "aaahhhhhhh's" just thinking about it. (I know the ooooos and ahhhhhs shouldn't have an apostrophe because they're plural not possessive, but otherwise, they read funny)

    Also, would Aunt Chrissy agree to a house photo shoot? Would love to see it!

    Thanks, Connie, for the great blog and a peek into your life out in Hoosierville.

    ~~Joanne~~

    PS: your word verification won't recognize the characters I type in over and over again, so entering my info thru the 'Name/URL' button

    ReplyDelete
  9. Bless you and bless your sister !! I am blessed to have two darling sisters...and we are quite the trio!! Love the new look of the house!! Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wow! You even added purple light bulbs. Great job!

    ReplyDelete
  11. A very beautiful "poor-pitiful-me-sister-come-to-the-rescue" makeover. LOL (We all have them) O.o I like the crisp white and purlpes of the bathroom. Gorgeous "Constance" painting...are those lavendar tinted lightbulbs...if they are...OMG! I love it! And those flower arrangements...simply fabulous!!!! Hugs for Aunt Chrissy, pat on the back for you, Constance. XD

    ReplyDelete
  12. Aunt Chrissy did a wonderful job, it's a good thing Stewey was there to call for help.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I'm with Ann, can Aunt Chrissy come and save me after she has visited Ann.
    I wasn't blessed with a sister, only a brother who doesn't even notice things like an elegant home.
    He would only inquire on cost etc. So boring!!!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I just sent mom out to buy something new for the front door. I told he to stop by the antique mall to see if there is something there that she can't live without. Hope this helps her winter blues. The weather in southern Indiana has been pretty gloomy. She hasn't been to pleasent. Hope she comes home with a nice puppy treat for me. I try hard to take care of her....it's a dogs life ....Scully

    ReplyDelete
  15. I think Jeanne must be married to the same man as me! No nails are allowed (we have plaster walls) and no front door decs - we have security doors! I love the pretties your sister helped you add. It's beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  16. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Aunt Chrissy is pretty wonderful. Your house looks very very happy! And your little dog, too!!!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Oh my gosh. Can I please have you all come to Maine for a little while? While Chrissy fixes up MY dump, you and I could trade high maintenance stories while Stewey teaches my kids some lessons about elegance and Chrissy's doggie will have no end of fun bouncing around with all the activity and silliness that are part & parcel of Chateau Chaos.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Can she come to my house? I just moved and the extent of my sprucing up was to get a new vinyl shower curtain in white and a couple of new towels. Decorating is definitely not my thing. Love all the purple touches and the flowers on the front door are perfect. CJ in OK ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  20. I love it all -- not sure what is my favorite -- the beautiful purple in the bathroom or that awesome front door continer that can change with the seasons. Big hugs to Cissy for making you happy!

    ReplyDelete
  21. I have always thought your house was lovely but Aunt Chrissie is a genius. Thanks for sharing. Does she take out of state jobs?

    ReplyDelete
  22. God Bless Aunt Chrissy! We should all be so lucky to have someone like that in our lives. Everything looks beautiful. :) Cathryn

    ReplyDelete
  23. I don't have a sister either (just a bro in CA of all places), but I could adopt BOTH of you and really have the best of all possible worlds.
    I love the bathroom...just the right pop in an unexpected color!
    The big white wall is a perfect display area. It's ALL GOOD.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Gotta ♥ Aunt Chrissy! She does have some flare doesn't she? Sisters are the best aren't they? I'm lucky enough to have 2 of them!`

    ReplyDelete
  25. PS...FYI...Cari up above that says she has 2 sisters? I'm one of them! Waving hello to Cari!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Your house looks lovely, but it looked great before too. Mine is...er...1980`s-in-desperate-need-of-a-redo-and-my-carpets-are-crap-and-my-husband-has-a-thing-for-wolf-pictures. Trade ya!!

    Kisses to Stewey and Bosco...

    ReplyDelete
  27. Your house is absolutely gorgeous. And I love your purple bathroom!

    ReplyDelete
  28. You have a beautiful home!! I love the bathroom and if I didn't have a grumpy, manly old husband (waves.."HI honey!") I'd have a purple bathroom, too. Change it up, girl!!

    ReplyDelete
  29. What a lucky girl you are! Love the new things in your home, how beautiful they all are. Love the flowers on your big wall of nothing, and the purple in the bathroom is so pretty.

    It makes me want to re-do ours!

    Congrats on the new look. Aunt Chrissy is the best.

    ReplyDelete
  30. All of these decor changes look FANTASTIC! how lucky you are to have such a darling sister! I think that purple bathroom is incredibly chic.

    ReplyDelete