A Tale of Two Sisters: March 2011

OK so it's been really stressing me out watching people "unfollow" our blog. There is nothing worse to our novice blogger egos then people deciding we are not worth following anymore! And by "our" I mean "mine" because I'm sure Lulu is not breaking out into a cold sweat at the thought. She's always been better under pressure. Me on the other hand...this is bringing me sleepless nights! The problem is I have a lot to say, and not much to say. Ya smell me?

So much is going on, but nothing like earth shattering. I feel like if I always talk about Fliss this will become a babe blog and that's not really my thangggg. And if I talk about design stuff, it just makes me feel like a wolf in sheep's clothing [sidebar: that's an amazing little saying...I suggest you say it as much as possible] because I am so not legit in the design department and I can name 9384938904 other bloggers that could take me out back and show me what REAL interior design is all about. Le sigh. I do have a few things I need help on so this post is mostly about decorating. And of course a few pics of Felicity. Or as I like to call her, Bobo Baggins.

We have been seriously dragging our feet about making our dining room look good. I have no idea why since you have to walk by it to get to the kitchen. Oh AND you can see it from the living room. I'd like to think it's a little trick we play on our guests like, "Behold our busted dining room! Please over compliment every other part of our house because you feel sorry for us!" I am going to get real talk with you right now and show you a picture of my dining room as it stands this VERY second.

The seventh lair of hell? Perhaps.

I believe I see your dreams weeping in the corner...

Ummm my dining room literally looks like the place where dreams go to die. It is a dark and dreary hole that smells faintly of cat pee (thanks to the giant self cleaning cat box in there that frequently scares people when it decides to do a half ass cleaning job.) Even though it looks so bad in there now...I do have hope. I just ordered a new dining table, and those chairs are my latest Craig's List find. Half price West Elm dining chairs in awesome condition. Holler. And I also ordered a new chandelier.

CB2's Bolt Dining Table

Overstock.com

Just to let you know, Overstock.com has some SERIOUS deals on light fixtures. I highly suggest you visit their website if you need some fun, funky lighting. So things SHOULD look better in there once I get these new pieces involved. I need to ditch that rug and get a cool side board. But this is my dilemma (and I am hoping my design friends can provide suggestions)...I don't know what colors to work with! It's hard to paint because the wall never really ENDS given its balcony style you know? I also need some fun plush king and queen dining chairs for the end of the table. Help me! I love bright colors. My living room is all aqua and it's kinda been played out.

I must say I do love the dining room pictured below. I love the unexpected colors and the drama from the curtains. I can't really do curtains in mine, but hot damn this looks good.

I may as well just keep the ball rolling on all the other things I need help with: My little gallery of art/ pics. I live in a 4 story townhouse which makes for a lot of stairwells. Lots of naked wall space. Here is a picture of the staircase going up to the bedrooms...

A barren wasteland.

Here is what I have gathered for my little gallery:

Yeah I pretty much have no idea what I'm doing with this wall. All I know is I like the helter skelter look...different color frames, some art, some pics...but I don't know. It's missing something. Thoughts?

OK well here is something I AM sort of happy/proud about. I got these little guys on sale at Kohl's:

So cute. I love their noses!

And while I liked them just fine the way they were, I decided they need a punch of color. I really love random colors in a space I've decided.

After

OK so they are SO pink. You could probs see them from space. But you know what? I kinda dig them. I sent Joel on the mission to get the spray paint. All I said is I wanted something "bright and fun" and he was VERYYY proud of himself when he returned with pink spray paint. But not just pink. HOT NEON PINK. But he was super cute and I didn't have the heart to be like, "Cool. So I guess these pups will be needing a ride to the local rave tonight...?" In the end they turned out bright but fun!

Hmmmm what else? OH well I've been channeling my inner puffy paint sweatshirt grandma lately and watching a lot of the Home Shopping Network. HSN. Ummm that channel/website is CRACK. A Fiskars Craft Drill with 4 bits???? YES I NEED THAT. THANK YOU FOR ASKING. Finally. I mean they sell stuff so well. I want EVERYTHING. Hunter's SOL02 Personal Space Air Cleaner Filter??? Well I haveee found I've had trouble breathing my personal space air latelyyyyy. I'll take two!

Meet the Colin Cowie 4-1 Multipurpose Firepit:

Isn't she beautiful?

Not only is she a fire pit, (perfect size for our backyard. I'd show you a pic of said yard but I fear your eyeballs would burn right out their sockets. Tres bad.) she is also a coffee table, ice bucket, and grill. Just click the link to see. The greatest invention of all time? Discuss. We got her in Gun Metal, and I love her. At the time of purchase Joel wasn't home and the Riesling was going down REALLL nice, and I was freaking out that she would be sell out. So I started blowing up Joel's phone with pics. He was having a guys night and I'm sure the last thing he wanted was texts and pics being like, "THIS CRAZY SOUTH AFRICAN NAMED COLIN COWIE IS MAKING ME ORDER A FIRE PIT. NO TIME FOR QUESTIONS! HE IS SAYING IF WE DON'T GET IT WE ARE LOSERS. DO YOU WANT TO BE A LOSER JOEL?? I, FOR ONE, DO NOT. WE ARE A FAMILY OF WINNERS!"

And have you SEEN Colin Cowie??

Creepy yet dreamy? Drink in that chest, ladies.

He has this super creepy South African accent and everything he says sounds sexual. How he made a fire pit sound sexual is beyond me. He throws in words like "darling" and "magnificent" and "luxurious" and "affordable" even if the items are blatantly not any of these things. Whatever. The point is I got me one of those there fire pits and I am damn excited to use it.

A quick shout out to Danika over at Gorgeous Shiny Things She had a giveaway last week and I won! The prize showed up on my doorstep yesterday and I RIPPED it out of the packageeeeee

She PAINTED this zebra rug. Talent, my friends. I need the perfect place for it. It deserves to be showcased!! Go to her blog, she has great decor ideas!

LASTLY! This will be the last post we do on www.nixonsleeves.blogspot.com Our friend Nicole at Our Big Day for 10K is a super talented web designer and has been working on a new website for us. Lulu and I are so excited!! As soon as we finalize the new site we will let you know. I have a feeling it will be very soon because Lulu is SUPER pumped to start blogging again. She's got some things to say, people!!

Now for some pics!