Digging this sofa for M's office

the Jamison from Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams - in a black velvet perhaps?  and it has beautiful nail head detail... and it is so totally comfortable.  i'm in love.

Hooray for birthdays!

How is it already my birthday weekend!?!??!  This year has flown by - did I really turn 30 last year and I'm already going to be 31!!!  I know it shouldn't be about the actual number, but I really don't like being in my thirties.

No idea what our plans are - Michael has been very quiet about the whole thing...  Tonight is movie night though - either Crazy, Stupid, Love (which is probably a good date movie) or the Help (probably not a good date movie but I really want to see it), or, do I make Michael go see Glee: 3D with me...  oh, the dilemma. 

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Next Project: Michael's Office

The euphoria of the dining room didn't last long, that or I'm totally bored at work and need a new project.  And the next project is Michael's office.  Shhh... don't tell him.

Since we moved into Chez Noble in 2007, I've left his office space alone.  I let him choose the paint color (which he did a very nice job of) and decor.  But, the time has come for me to add a woman's touch as well as clean it up a bit - it's a total disaster of golf and football art, baseball caps (at least 100), and work files galore.  Just for reference, the color that Michael chose is an Alabama red color called Roasted Pepper by Porter Paints.

Last night, I measured the space - it's about 13.5 ft x 11.5 ft. with one large picture window and another window higher up but just as wide.  Here's the current layout:

The (1) curved desk takes up a huge amount of space, but there's not other place to put it based on where the door and windows are.  So it has to stay put as does (2) the swivel chair.  An (3) English pub table that Michael's mom bought him years ago is in the other corner and is covered in papers.  Next to that is (4) an old office chair that Michael's grandmother kept for him - it was his grandfather's.  Very nice, just needs to be recovered as right now it has an awful beat up green leather seat.  Then on the other side of the room are (5 and 6) are two rocking chairs that Michael's other grandfather passed on to him about a year ago.  Not sure what I'm going to do with them but they can't stay in this room.  So besides it being Michael's office for actual work (and he does A LOT of it) it's not otherwise functional or really that pretty. 

So here's what I'm thinking:

Obviously keeping the desk and desk chair in the same location but moving the rest of the current furniture either out or into a different location as well as bringing in some new things.  First, I'm thinking about bringing in a sofa - since the walls are a vibrant red color and I want the room to be definitely masculine, I'm thinking about the new Griffin sofa from Ballard Designs in Black Sunbrella fabric. 

Then recovering Michael's grandfather's chair in a black and white stripe (note: this is not the actual chair but one very similar in style):

Then add a wood console table that we already have (again this picture is not exact) to use for books, DVDs, etc. in front of the picture window.

And a couple of throw pillows on the sofa to add some depth:

But the piece de resistance would be some how configuring Michael's art into a wall that looks like this:

End result would look something like this:

Dining Room Paint

Ever since last year when Michael bought me this painting for my birthday, the green walls in the dining room just didn't sit well with me anymore.

So this past weeked I had the dining room repainted a more neutral color (side note: I am all for DIY'ers who actually can accomplish things like this in a short, inexpensive amount of time.  I, however, am not one of those people no matter how hard I try; therefore, I paid someone to paint this room for me.  Well worth it.)

Before pictures

During pictures

Et voila!

I picked Porter Paints Indian Ivory in Flat and Semi-Gloss and did vertical stripes about 12 inches apart around the entire room.  It's subtle - but I wanted a wallpaper look without the fuss and expense.  You can tell in this picture a lot.

It looks like a completely different room!  Bigger and the ceilings seem higher.  Now the red/pink in the painting and drapes are not fighting with the green color of the walls. 

Btw, the guy who painted the room for me was fantastic!  If you're looking for a really good, reliable, economical painter let me know and I'll give you his name.



Blackberry Farm

Last week was Michael’s mom’s 60th birthday – and for her birthday, she took us all to Blackberry Farm for 5 days. Can’t complain about that! We had a wonderful time – I highly recommend it for all couples out there. It’s less than a four hour drive from Nashville – and tucked right into the Smokey Mountains. It’s very relaxing, wonderful hospitality, and the food and wine are to die for!

Wednesday night, Patty reading her gift (Anne, Michael and I put together a photo book with pictures of Patty growing up until now with notes from friends and family). Oh and of course, it was cocktail hour if you can’t tell by the glass of wine in Sid’s hand…

Wednesday night dinner at the Barn – yes, I regret wearing a nude bra under my black dress.  Otherwise, I think it’s a cute picture of the family.

Thursday morning, Anne and I went on a bike ride in the country and got a tad bit lost.  What started out as a 22 mile ride turned into a 34 mile ride – 2.5 hours later we finally made it back and we were STARVING.  Luckily, this was on the lunch menu:

And while we ate lunch, this was our view:

Not too shabby, huh?

Friday, the boys went fly fishing and the ladies enjoyed some time at the spa.

I love this picture of Sid

And this picture of Patty is hysterical – it’s blurry but too funny not to include.

Michael and I at dinner Friday night in the Barn

Pictures of the property including the Barn where dinner was every night

Seriously, you really have to go to this place – it’s just such a wonderful place.

U2

How could I forget to post a little something about U2? Their first time back to Nashville in 30 years was great! (But, I have to say I will never attend a concert at the Vanderbilt Stadium again! Waaaaay too many people for that place.)

Here are just a few snapshots of a great show.

Michael and I outside the stadium before the show – notice how sweaty we were from our walk to the stadium from our house – which was a great decision since West End was basically shut down from 5 pm until way after the show.

The craziest looking stage

End of the night - the show ended and they immediately started taking the stage apart.  And we got to watch A LOT of it since 70,000 people were all trying to leave the stadium at the same time!