Porch, magazine, weekend...oh my.

It's Friday! You know what that means: yes, I HAVE been drinking coffee all day. How'd you know? It's because it's raining. One cup just didn't suit. Anyway, I'm also gearing up for the weekend. You'd think living in the sunny south we'd have quiet, restful weekends full of drinking peachy iced tea and mojitos on the porch. But we don't. Nope. In fact, we pretty much have friends/family in town or we're out of town just about every weekend of the summer. Anyway, next week is our vaca on the beach with Maple's family, so I've been preparing to ditch work for five days, and I can. not. wait.

(For the record, this might be the longest M + S post ever...and yet-to-come. Let's just say there's lots to catch up on and I'm not entirely good at showing you all that I've been up to. Oops.)

Anyway, fixing up the house has been happening at ice-age speeds. Has it even happened? Yes...yes...I have to keep looking at those "befores," but my gosh it takes forever. Especially, when as mentioned above, we're perpetually entertaining or being entertained, meaning painting/yard work/hanging curtains/attaching hardware/etc etc etc has to wait. And wait. And wait...

But...I've made a teenie bit of front porch progress. Remember what she looked like before?

Baghh! Scarring, I know. 

Carpet. Carpet?! Yes...carpet. Guess what? It's still there. Because...of course...there is ASTROTURF underneath, clinging every-so-tightly to that concrete with construction adhesive, meaning we will have to rip and scrape our lives away when we decide to tackle that mess.

So, after scouting craigslist for some furniture finds, revamping the ultra-cool chairs with new fabric and pillows, and giving some life to the downtrodden space with plants, here is what she's looking like now:

Ohh...carpet...I can't wait to rip you up, roll you out, and hand you over to the city dump. 

See the wrought-iron column? It haunts my dreams. But, thanks to this variegated confederate jasmine, those hideous, winding spindles will soon be boasting a full, flowering vine.

We still have some plans for it, like: constructing a prettier step and redoing the akward walk; surrounding the exposed side with grasses and other privacy-bearing plants and shrubs, and placing some more substantial planters at the front. But, guess what--those were cheap and definitely fit the bill until we're ready to splurge.

Now for the rug. 

It's not looking so hot these days, being that the sweltering sun has sucked the color from it, but...I did make it. It was a magazine project of mine. 

The rug was featured in the latest issue:

See! It used to be pretty...

And here's some shots of me (painstakingly) making it.

The Before:

The during: 

  

(Soo I must've misplaced my hairbrush that day)

And the photoshoot:

(I told you this post would be excruciatingly long).

Anyway, there she is, in her finest form. 

And now she greets me on my front porch each day, reminding me that life is pretty great and doing work for the magazine pretty much rocks.

HAPPY WEEKEND!