A nice tall glass of gross.

Drew Jones tried to win us a fridge at Home Depot, and instead we got a short, coughing, bald salesman who came to our house last night and effectively showed us how disgusting our water is.

I was annoyed, skeptical and feeling awkward about the whole thing. I know Columbus City water is gross. I know we are on the top 20 list of worst water in the U.S. But I choose to ignore the details, blissfully drinking straight out the tap. I sat quietly and listened, bracing myself for the sordid truth I didn't want to hear.

He dyed our water to show us all the sediment and arsenic lurking in it.

He dyed his purified water to show us how crystal clear and holy it is.

He told us how our water is corroding our water heater and giving me splint ends (I just got a trim thankyouverymuch). He explained that there is more chlorine in our water then what is necessary in a swimming pool. 

With eyebrows raised and defenses high I scoffed. A swimming pool?! Those things reak with chlorine, you can smell is from a mile away!

Then he had us use his pure water to cleanse our palettes. He told us to take a few drinkes and deep breaths. I nudged Drew Jones and tried to make him laugh while he had water in his mouth. Success!

After we felt thouroughly cleansed he filled up a glass with our tap water and asked us to smell it...

Gingerly, we both sniffed

and

HOLY COW IT SMELLED LIKE A DIRTY POOL.

He then asked us to drink it. We both declined. But he insisted, so we did. 

BLUCK.

IT.WAS.SICK.

WHAT HAVE WE BEEN DRINKING?! GOOD GOD!!

So now, I'm horrified. I took a shower today and all I could think of was how my pores were sucking in copious amounts of chlorine like a sponge. Even my blackberry Anthropologie soap couldn't make me forget.

So, if anyone can think of a way to raise $5985 so I can take a shower and drink in peace let me know.

Have a great weekend. Drew Jones and I have some adventurous plans with friends I'm sure I'll be sharing about next week.

book worm

Drew Jones got me this book for Valentine's Day:

It came in the mail yesterday and I am just loving it.

I just finished reading this:

The story is inspired by the historical romance between F. Scott Fitzgerald and his first love, Chicago debutante Ginevra King. I read The Great Gatsby a long while ago and remember enjoying it so I thought it would be fun to read a historical fiction about F. Scott. It was funny and sad and overall quite good. 

And now I have started on this one:

So far, so good.

Have you read anything good lately?

For me, for you.

To comfort me this weekend a good friend got out a T.S. Eliot book and read:


"The endless cycle of idea and action,
Endless invention, endless experiment,
Brings knowledge of motion, but not of stillness;
Knowledge of speech, but not of silence;
Knowledge of words, and ignorance of the Word.
All our knowledge brings us nearer to our ignorance,
All our ignorance brings us nearer to death,
But nearness to death no nearer to God.
Where is the Life we have lost in living?
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?
The cycles of Heaven in twenty centuries
Bring us farther from God and nearer to the Dust."
  
- T.S. Eliot


I was moved so later I decided to seek out some more.

 
"I said to my soul, be still and wait without hope, for hope would be hope for the wrong thing; wait without love, for love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faith, but the faith and the love are all in the waiting. Wait without thought, for you are not ready for thought: So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing."


- T.S. Eliot

The second one speaks to me so, so deeply. 

I thought I would share, just in case they did the same for you.

Cupcake liners & Coffee filters

There is a girl named Bridget, who I'm pretty sure would be a best bud if she lived nearby.

I stumbled upon her blog and now enjoy daily.

One day she featured this DIY wreath that was just so lovely and ruffly and fresh.(click here to view that post)

I watched the video on how to make it and decided to make one for the Jones Cottage.

7 hours, 8 glue sticks, 200 cupcake holders & 250 coffee filters later I finished:

:)

Parakeet Portraits

Did I ever mention that the birds have effectively been named? 

Claude and Bernice. 

They fit them so well, cute little babies.

So...

Drew Jones cut me out these 5"x6" wood blocks to work on. I painted them white and have several to experiment different ideas on.

I used two of them for Claude and Bernice's portraits.

Here they are:

 

  

I pulled their cage up to the table I was working on and they sat there quiet and curious watching me.

After I was done I held them up to the cage for them to see.

They didn't seem impressed.

  

Tough crowd.

Lady Lee's Magic Love Cookies

I made these magical love cookies, as mentioned here.

Now I know it's after Valentine's day and you're not going to be making heart cut-outs. BUT, this is a handy recipe to have in your back pocket for any holiday. You better believe I am using the rabbit and egg cookie-cutters my mom got for me to make these cookies again for Easter (does anyone know where I can get a cookie cutter shaped like Jesus? That would take communion to a whole other level. I kid.).

I started with a recipe I found online and then changed a few things so that it was juuuust right.

Here it is, you can thank me later.

Ingredients:
• 1.5 cups of softened butter
• 3 cups of white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 tsps of vanilla extract
• 5 cups of all purpose white flour
• 2 tsps of baking powder
• 1 tsp of salt


Directions:


1. In a large bowl cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt. Chill for at least one hour.


2. Preheat over to 400 degrees.  Roll out dough 1/4 - 1/2 thick. Cut out shapes. Place 1" apart on a cookie sheet. (For best results put a piece of parchment paper on the cookie sheet under the cookies. The bottoms won't burn and it just cooks better...)


3. Bake for 6-8 minutes. My oven cooked mine perfectly in 7 minutes, but watch yours as every oven is different.


Frosting:
Here's the easy answer...I mix butter, powdered sugar and add water until I get a consistency I like. It's really simple and so tasty. You will need about 1.5 bags of powdered sugar and a stick of butter to have enough frosting for the magic love cookie recipe.

Enjoy! And if you make em' let me know how they turn out. :)

Lady Lee times 3

There are certain perks to working for the best Photography Studio in town. 

One is beautiful, absolutely priceless photography.

Thanks Chris,

these mean so, so much.

 

  

  

  

 

To see more of Chris Keels' work please visit

www.keelsphotography.com

You're going places baby

 

 Ashley at GetReale passed this Bogart Award on to me :)

"This award means you're really going places, Baby. You'll still be blogging about your great adventures 10 years from now, and I'll still be reading them."

This Award comes with some rules:

1. Post where you would like to be in 10 years
2. Pass it on to 10 other special Bloggers!

I shall accept and follow through with my Bogart duties...

In 10 years I will be 36 years old.

Drew Jones and I will have 3 healthy kids. Twin girls and a boy. They will be the best behaved kids you've ever met and we will frequently get stopped in the grocery to be told so.

We will be living in a different house outside the city, removed from the suburbs. Something bigger with a mudroom and window seats. Something with lots of grass to run in and a detached studio for Drew Jones to paint in.

Drew Jones will be a famous painter and I will miraculously be able to pull in an good income by blogging about this and that.

We'll be rich and give a lot of money away to people in need.

I will have learned to cook good food.

I will know more of God's love and operate more fully as who I am because of this.

Drew Jones and I will be married 12 years and have a Vow Renewal where we dance all night long with all of our friends.

I will speak French.

::::::::::::::::::::

I could go on and on, but I will stop there. That was fun :)

I hereby pass this "Bogart Award" on to:

Lauren @ http://jonesnewhome.wordpress.com/

Cynthia @ http://l-afterlife.blogspot.com/

Kelley @ http://kelleidoscope7.blogspot.com/

Rachel @ http://www.ladybearcrafts.com/

Bridget @ http://itsahuntlife.blogspot.com/ 

Chelsea @ http://chelseatalkssmack.blogspot.com

Melissa @ http://melissachristensenfamily.blogspot.com/

Lauren @ http://laurenvellek.blogspot.com/  

Emily @ http://shiny-pretty.blogspot.com

Lisa @ http://lisasfrenchcorner.blogspot.com/ 

Home Alone

Thursday night Drew Jones went off to staff a men's retreat. He was gone all weekend which means I slept bad, missed him terribly and only had myself to whine to.

This is all worth it because I know how transformational this particular retreat is for men. I knew that Drew Jones would be an asset and prayed and prayed for him and every man there all weekend.


So sans my better half this weekend I:

• Baked and decorated some deeeelicious cut-out Valentine cookies. I am especially impressed with myself because the last time I baked cookies they tasted like little fat salty biscuits trying to be chocolate chip cookies. It irrationally made me question my womanhood.

• Watched Moon. Which blew my mind.

• Had a date with my friend Chrissy to watch the opening ceremonies for the Olympics. Two things about that:


1. The part where they made it look like whales swimming on the floor was my favorite. It was a light show miracle.


2. I didn't know until Friday that Hong Kong was a country. I thought it was a city. Please don't judge me.


Also this weekend, our laptop took a turn for the worse. For months we've had to twist the power cord around in the computer to get it to charge. It loses it's charge faster then you can say Steve Jobs so while on the computer I'm constantly twisting the cord trying to keep it alive. Anyway, I am working and twisting, working and twisting and I hear "shhhhnnaaap...zzzzpkkiit" and sure enough the metal part of the power cord snapped of INSIDE my computer. Awesome.

This means limited capabilities for awhile, which is sad.


So currently I have to use our vintage, program-less eMac from 2002.

 It's a hard knock life.

And the Society Soap Winner Is...

Brent!!

 I'll be sending your Society Valentine soap out today.

Thanks to each of you for entering.

 :)

p.s. I used this random picker to draw the winner.

Warming Up

I don't think that the west wall in our bedroom is insulated. It is cold to the touch. Our closets are situated on this wall and the lack of insulation makes for chilled clothes in the morning.

Today as I pulled on ice cold jeans I decided to pretend it was July. I imagined it was really hot outside and my jeans were only cold because of our efficient central air. It actually helped a bit.

I've been dreaming of warmer days, and my dreams involve this beautiful bathing suit...

 

  

and for good measure (and healthy skin) this hat...

 

and, although I'd never think of spending $140 on sunglasses, as long as I'm still dreaming I'll throw in these guys too...

Can't you just see Drew Jones and I on holiday on The Côte d'Azur?

Splashing around the sea, laughing and shouting broken french phrases over the waves...

"Où est la salle de bains?"

"Je veux un hot-dog pour le déjeuner!"

I can.

(The beautiful bathing suit is from Lands End and the hat and sunnies are from JCrew. If you end up buying them, don't tell me. I'll covet.)

Please don't forget to enter to win some free and fabulous Society Valentine Soap. Go here and take care of business... 

The giveaway ends tomorrow!!

Be My Valentine

You didn't really think I would show you all those sweet gift ideas for Valentines Day and then not actually give away one right?

Of course not!

So to end the week off right I am doing a giveaway with these sweet babies:

Society Valentine Soap!

A yummy sampling of four 1.5 ounce squares of soap, cut straight from finished bars. They come in a little white box, impeccably designed and sealed with a kraft paper banner. The one I am giving away says, "b mine". It is adorable and smells AH-MAZING.

If you win you can keep it or give it to your hunney. But either way I am calling you my Valentine. And Drew Jones of course.

Here is how you enter to win:

You can have up to 3 entries in the comments section.

Entry #1: Enter your name.
.
Entry #2: Follow me. Cause' you know I am going to give more stuff away, and soon. (very obvious foreshadowing going on there) Then write in the comment section: "I marked you as a follower" If you are already a follower - write: "Already a follower."
.
Entry #3. Answer this question: Which Society Bar would you prefer to rub on your epidermis? (this question sounds more risqué then it is mom.)Go here to check em' out.

So there it is, 3 chances to make this fragrant Valentine soap your bath time companion.

This giveaway closes Tuesday the 9th at noon. I will announce the winner that evening.

Boooonne Chance!

Princess Wands

Last night Drew Jones and I were chatting about our days over dinner.

He told me about two 3rd grade girls at school who had come to him asking for help making princess wands.

Without missing a beat, in all seriousness he went on to say that he is going to help them during indoor recess and is pretty sure he has all the supplies they would need for making princess wands.

There are 3 reasons that I love this story:

1. Kids are perceptive. Those 2 little girls knew that they could ask Mr. Jones to help them make something as flowery and girly and dazzling as a princess wand and that he would not look at them strangely or make them feel silly. They knew he would help them enthusiastically and sincerely.

2. I know that in his head Drew Jones has a list of things he needs to make a princess wand. Dowel rod, glitter, paint, maybe some cut out shapes and ribbon. I would assume that most men wouldn't know where to start. Maybe they don't know what a little girl would expect when it comes to princess accessories. Drew Jones knows though. Because he is perceptive and creative and sensitive to womanly things.

3. From the moment Drew Jones sets foot into school until the moment he leaves he is very busy and very needed. In order to make princess wands with these girls he will have to give up the small and precious quiet time he has to plan or eat his lunch. But he does it without a second thought.  

I am so thankful that he is working with children. Kids need some extra dadding now-a-days don't you think? Someone to sit with them and create things, talk, give them attention, encouragement, gently discipline, listen to their stories.

I'm thankful that he is my husband and will be the father of our children. I can't wait to see the children God gives to us. When they come I will tell them how blessed they are to have the kind of daddy they have. How God must really love them to place them in his care.

I love you Drew. I hope you are having a great day making princess wands and making kids feel special. 

Adventures in Rug Land

My dedicated hobby for the last 2 months has been rug shopping. You can ask Drew Jones. He has spent several evenings parked on the couch watching King of Queens while I interupt turning my laptop screen to him asking..."What do you think about this one?"

I have tried looking everywhere. West Elm, Macy's, The Great Indoors, Pottery Barn, Anthropologie, Ikea, Garden Ridge. You name it, I've looked there.

Here's the problem, rugs ain't cheap. And if they are cheap they are usually ugggly 

or too small 

or poorly made. 

So eventually I settled on Overstock.com because they offer quality designer rugs at an affordable price. (ting!)

When my mom was visiting a couple weeks ago we stayed up late clicking through hundreds & hundreds of area rugs on Overstock.

Some would make us laugh like this one:

It's concerning to me that there are people out there buying this rug and putting it in their family room. 

When you click on the link to read more about it...in red italic words the page warns, "Sell Out Risk High!"

Really?!

Really Overstock?

That's hard to believe.

I keep thinking about Goosebumps books from elementary school and how this rug would make a perfect subject for one of those. The circles are infinite black holes that suck your little brother into it NEVER TO BE SEEN AGAIN!!! MUWAHAHAH!

Annnd, Some rugs would just downright confuse us, like this one:

 

I just...

don't know what to say.

I guess the upside is if the dog poops on the carpet the stain will just blend right in?

I actually ended up buying a rug that night.

Months of searching were ending as I clicked it's way into my shopping cart. 

It was neutral and pretty and bright.

I felt a weight lifted! The time has come to have a warm, stylish rug making our room cozier and keeping our pigs warm.

My mom and I high-fived and went to bed.

3 days later it showed up in our backyard leaned up against the green siding. I was so excited I dragged all 11 feet of it into the house by myself.

Giddy and hopeful I cut off the plastic, moved the furniture and with great fanfare and struggle rolled out the new rug!

And felt...

underwhelmed.

I tried not to feel that way, tried to convince myself that my first impression and gut feeling could be swayed by cleaning up the room a bit and putting the furniture back where it goes.

So I did. I stood in different areas of the room, cocking my head to the side, squinting my eyes. It just didn't feel right.

I decided to see what Drew Jones thought. When he came home I was waiting for him. He followed me into the living room and said "Wow!"

Drew Jones liked it.

I told him how I felt and decided to sleep on it.

(not literally) 

The next morning I rolled up the rug and squeezed it back into the plastic, which is no small feat.

I contacted Overstock, they emailed me a return label and we lugged the beast into the car to be dropped off at UPS.

So, I got back in the game and started rug searching again.

And my goodness I found the most stunning rug.

   

My mom hit my design style on the head when said,

"You like things that are unexpected."

I love the traditional print of this rug paired with bright, primary, unexpected colors. So, as soon as Overstock refunds my money I hope to bring it home to the Jones Cottage.

I'll let you know how it goes :) 

A list for loved ones

February is here. The short, cold month that is brightly punctuated by a little day to celebrate love.

I have made a short list of gift ideas for Valentines Day.

I hope you enjoy...

1. Lollia Eau de Parfum

 

This scent (that I wear) is called "Relax"

Lavender, 

White Orchid, 

Tahitian Vanilla

& Bee Blossom Honey

goodness gracious I love this scent.

 And did you notice how pretty the bottle is? Bonus.

Find it here.

2. I am Not a Paper Cup 

Made of porcelain with a silicone lid

I've been eyeing this eco-friendly cup for awhile.

Isn't it clever? 

Find it here.

3.The best Coffee you'll ever have. Ever.

Coffee Freak roasts some fantastic fair-trade coffee. 

The best I've ever had. 

Pair that with Clarie's Confections delicious "Cake Bites"

and woooo boy...

For 21 bucks you can't get a yummier gift.

Order yours here.

And have it shipped right to your door.

4.A Must-Read book for everybody

This book comes with a warning. 

Once you start it you will want to read it non-stop until the last page. You may neglect responsibilities or stay up all night. Everyone I know who has read it has finished it in 2 days or less.

It is a remarkable story that is guaranteed to move you.

(And for you guys out there...a friend of mine spotted a player on the Columbus Crew Soccer Team reading it on a plane. This book is not just for women. So you can buy it for your lady and read it with her. Now that is romance.)

Get a copy for someone you love here.

5. Society Soap

 

 The man behind these soaps was a teacher of mine in art school.

And one of my favorite, I might add.

It is evident that he is as particular about these beautiful products as he was about our assignments (and boy was he particular).

Buy the Valentine gift set this week and get two free lip tubes. Awwwwesooome!

Spice up bath time baby

::::::