Today I found out they are making a musical based on the Little House book series by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and guess who is playing Ma Ingalls? Melissa Gilbert!!!!!
Um, okay for you non-Little House fanatics, that's little Laura Ingalls from the television show!
In honor of this great bit of news, I say we all take a moment to think about those simpler times of home living.... okay yes there was no plumbing, but there were porch stools (if you had money like the Olesons); cute little churches/school houses—A simple black drape changed that building's function in a flash; and beautiful things like a velvet couch, or a pretty floral textile was truly cherished.
Oh and the Little House itself! Pa Ingalls worked so hard, down to his knuckles, to build that Little House with its cute loft for the girls, back room for the wife, and a cute matching barn! And of course a few years go by, business is good, and Pa gets to build an addition so Ma can have more room to cook and sew.
I was addicted to this show, for years—yes, obviously, I still am!—but not only did I adore Laura and her crazy antics, but I really did love the way they lived and remember nearly every part of that set from Oleson's Mercantile to Laura's first house as a married woman.
I was truly in awe of this house because it had steps, which to me, meant the Wilders were rich! It was my dream to grow up, marry manly (my first love) and be rich and have a huge house with stairs!
I could on and on, talking about the ginormous house they had to move in toward the end of the series. It had a big beautiful circular window, but Half-Pint hated that place.
While the show's ending was sad, the true tragedy for me was when—due to the ending of the series and the production company wanting the lot back—the writers, including the super hot, and now deceased Michael Landon, wrote the final episode to destroy the set. The story was that the evil Mr. Lassiter had bought out Walnut Grove and was going to take over the town; in retaliation, the characters took loads of dynamite and blew up their homes, and all the buildings that made up Walnut Grove. It was sad.
Aaah is that life imitating art? I tell you though, had they turned that lot into a Disney world for Little House fans, I would have been first in line!
Little House... The Musical!?
Kitty Nook
If you have a kitty that is anything like mine, you'll want to create a kitty nook next to your computer so kitty and you can easily brainstorm up wonderful ideas together without kitty sitting directly in front of the monitor.
Here I found a random object at the Ikea clearance corner and paid a couple bucks for it and it turned out perfect! It's simple a cube missing two sides. It fits perfectly on my desk, next to the screen and not only provides a snuggle spot for kitty, but a place to shelf my computer so no glasses of orange juice or large vats of vodka accidentally spill on the computer!
Simple and sort of genius—well at least my kitty thinks so!
Try making your own kitty nook with an old milk crate or other plastic cube option from either a storage unit, or an old shelving system. Make sure to place a small blanket or cushion down so kitty can work comfortably.
Tablescapes
Escape away into an easy decorating task—make a tablescape complete with your favorite things for function and beauty!
Shown here is a favorite tablescape from my dressing room. Setting includes vintage dishes full of jewels, an angel mirror, fan, a gift from a friend's vacation, and a photo of the beautiful Betty Hutton.
Tchotchkeeper
On page 47 of this week's issue of Time Out Chicago, there's a small story about me and my design sense...Check it out!
Follow the flowers
As a nice prezzie, my friend Frank stopped by with a bunch of flowers and his expert green thumb!
This is all to build my very own tropical garden right here in Chi-town... well the flowers are more your midwest variety, but you get the point.
So the flowers have been growing out on my porch for about two weeks now... after some hungry black birds have come by, I realize I must pick up a pinwheel from the Market. Once I do that I'm sure they will begin to bloom like crazy and I will posting pics here as they grow... I'm really hoping my own green thumb will shine through.
Sweet Score
I found these cuties at my fav thrift store and I couldn't be happier! Does anyone remember these? What were they for? I remember them from my childhood, having a bunch of them, but I don't really remember how I got them...
I do have one vague memory of these plastic animals: I was playing with my neighborhood friend Jenae on her lawn when we saw our parents drive away together. We knew they were headed to go shopping for prizes for the neighborhood cul-de-sac pig roast (Um hello suburbia!) and I remember Jenae telling me "Don't worry I asked my mom to keep two extra glass animals for us." These were the animals. I'm pretty sure I got an elephant. But I had so many more thereafter! I tried doing some searches on the Internet, but couldn't find anything.
Suffice it to say I just love them.... four little 2" chunks of plastic, they could have easily gone to a landfill, but thankfully were saved and found their way into my home!
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