I’m Back!!

My dear friends, it’s been so long. I have been neglectful over here on 511. I’ve been busy with life and work and Mommy.

And also, I had kind of reached a decorating plateau. I literally have no more wall space to cover. I have not a throw-pillow-less-chair. Because decorating was such a huge and integral part of my winter (Home goods was my Home) I kind of did everything that I had to do and was able to do for the time being.

BUT…

I have been squirreling away some stories over here. I have had the honor and pleasure of starting on a big project, my best friends’ new home that I mentioned months ago is coming to life! They made settlement and have been making major changes, like putting on a new roof, staining the floors, and OMG they are painting everything top to bottom. This means that I got to spend an hour with my buddy J and he and I went through every single room in the house holding up swatches, taping electrical tape in strategic spots on the ceiling and arm wrestling over the color taupe. But their home deserves a post of it’s own (or many posts, I should say). so I will get to that. It is so exciting!

When it comes to my house, I have made a few little updates, and am actually planning a new paint job for my very first room of my very first post, thanks to the incredible Paul the Painter extraordinaire. But here’s a tiny little update that made my heart swell a few big sizes.

When I got married, we danced to The Rolling Stones “Sweethearts Together” and walked up the aisle to The Beatles. This week, my mom got me the perfect addition to my gallery wall:

It’s a good reminder. A really good reminder.

And this wall that was once a source of great question and confusion for me has really come to life; it is now a tapestry of our favorite words, photos, songs, lyrics, images…it is us, on one, big, long “White Dove” hallway wall.

All you need is love. Love is all you need.

Hallelujah and a Hallway.

Tonight I made a home decor swap of sorts that is very close to my heart.

I removed the mirror that was formerly at the top of the hallway on the second floor

(because it is being used for another, top secret design project, which will be coming soon)

and moved it to said undisclosed spot.

In it’s place I hung a mirrored frame with the handwritten sheet music of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”.

This song is meaningful to me; it is profound and poetic and sometimes it takes my breath away.

I had the honor of singing it the political fundraiser we hosted a little while back.

(you can see a bit of it here)

I love Leonard Cohen. I love this story. I love that it’s in a mirrored frame at the top of my stairs,

to remind me,

to sometimes

say

Hallelujah.

Fridge Decor

I’ve mentioned before that my kitchen is a work in progress. We now have beautiful new floors, and with our cherry cabinets, glass knobs from anthropologie and some pretty views and lots of light, it’s really OK for a 90 year old house.

Our appliances, however are not new. Nor do they match. Our microwave (which is currently missing a handle!), dishwasher, over and stove are black, while our fridge is cream colored. Since a complete kitchen re-do is on the horizon (we have an attached garage that and a not-yet-pictured powder room, both of which we plan to open and incorporate and make into one, bit great room), I refuse to update any of our appliances, even if they aren’t perfect. So I make the best of them.

And when it comes to the fridge, it means putting up things that are meaningful to me, that give me a smile or give me peace. It’s been established that I don’t do well with piles, but I feel that our fridge decor is organized chaos. And I love it so much; Because it’s a scrap book of sorts. Here. Let me walk you through it:

On here there are tons of photo booth strips; pictures of my friends, my husband, fun memories; the Magnet from my trip to New Paltz where I named my daughter years before her conception; a beautiful memento from Avi Loren Fox Photography, in which we are sitting on the steps of our childhood (and now neighborhood!) park; 2 Magnets from a trip up to boston to visit Twin: One featuring Mc Lovin’s fake ID because and one that says Spooning leads to Forking, because we’re mature like that; the paper that came with our Namaste sign from St. John, reading “I honor the place in you in which the entire Universe dwells. I honor the place in you which is of Love, Truth Light and Peace. When you are in that place in you and I am in that place in me We are One.”; A feather magnet that reminds me to breathe; Sonogram photos of my son; A photo of my family from my cousin’s Bat-Mitzvah in which my husband was posing as Miss J; a tender moment from our wedding; a magnet I had made of my husband giving me a piggy back ride in St. John that says “Come Ride With Me Across the Sea, The Best is Yet to Be”, which has become our unofficial mantra, and just other moments in photos captured that were either sweet or silly or twerpy or meaningful in one way or another. I love this fridge. It is isn’t “designed”, nor is it it neat, but it is fun and funny and a little inappropriate at times and filled with love, just like us.

Strength Symbols

On Friday, as I was having my hair cut for the first time since June (during a several hour visit to New York to see my little sister) , I noticed that the man razoring my ends had a pair of feathers tattooed on his forearm. When asking him about the origin, he said that he had gotten the ink with a friend, symbolizing that they would remain “birds of a feather” and stick together.

I told him that I was intrigued because of my thing for feathers. I told him they were my strength symbol. My sister, who accompanied me patiently during the appointment, poked fun at me, asking, snarkily, what a strength symbol meant.

I explained that feathers, as I have written on endlessly at Mommy, Ever After, are my sign that things will be ok. They are my protectors, my guardians, my peace.

Upon moving into my new house, I received several incredible gifts involving feathers. One was the beautiful gold plate in my entry way. And there were others. But one in particular touched me in a way that is hard to describe.

I have a friend who is my oldest and dearest. And when I moved into my new home, she got me a poster, a native American design, entitled “Feathered Shields”. It is a print by David Manje and to me is the embodiment of a strength symbol.

Because of it’s unusual size, it has taken me nearly a year to have it framed. But finally, finally, I was able to find a way to frame it that both stuck to my limited budget and did the piece justice. I used the framing department at Michael’s once again, but instead of ordering a custom frame, I made the more economical choice of buying a stock frame and having them cut a custom mat and assemble it for me.

The finished product now hangs on the wall at the entrance to my kitchen. It is my strength symbol. So is my best friend.

Because shields are meant to protect people. Feathers are meant to protect me. And she and I are meant to protect each other. Birds of a feather.