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I was at a wholesale show this weekend and all of the exhibitors were invited to preview the new science museum opening in Cartersville, GA in January 2009 (hopefully).
I brought Mr. BITH's fancy camera thinking I would get some cool shots of the sleek, modern looking building -
and I would have too . . . if only I had brought the memory card. *sigh*
So cellphone pics are all I have, folks.
The Name
Tellus is the Roman goddess of the Earth and provides the inspiration at the heart of the new museum.
The Tellus Museum unites the Weinman Mineral Museum and the science programs of the Resource Center under one roof.
The Galleries
The galleries are still a work in progress. Not a lot was installed other than shelves/platforms and the blueprints that were scattered everywhere.
It looks like there will be a fossil gallery, mineral gallery, science in motion gallery and 'my big backyard' gallery (hands-on exhibits).
Here are a few shots of blueprints from the fossil gallery and a helicopter (Magnum PI style) found in the motion gallery.
The Great Hall and Planetarium
They served us some wonderful cocktails and h'or dourves. For dinner we had some yummy barbecue and southern desserts such as red velvet cake and banana pudding.
Check out the big hall. I am sure they will host some beautiful affairs there. The ceiling undulates in different colors and the blue at the end of the hall is the outside wall of the digital planetarium.
Inside the 120-seat planetarium
Early man (J) and woman (N) in the planetarium (haha). Nice face J. ;)
Overall, I think it will be a really cool museum. According to the brochure, there will be a full-size replica of a 40 foot T-Rex, a 200 seat theater, science trails throughout the property (e.g., mineral trail, plant life indigenous to Georgia), an outdoor learning center and laboratory space for students.
The Tellus staff seems like a really good group that enjoys working together. They referred a lot of business our way and may even carry some of N's jewelry in their gift store.
The buyer from the Booth Western Art Museum came to purchase jewelry from us as well. Another museum I must check out at some point!
Anyway, if you live near Atlanta go support these museums when you can!
::Happy::
Delivering our notice to our property manager in person.
It felt SO good :)
::Crappy::
Since Mr. BITH and I will be in Chicago for a wedding right before closing, I wanted to make sure all of our ducks were in a row before leaving town . . . the mover's phone rang and rang and rang when I tried to reach him. Then I checked his website.
Horribly sad news.
Our mover has been murdered (article here).
He seemed like a very cool guy when I spoke to him the few times that I did. Once I started calling around to get quotes again - it was obvious that the people in the moving industry thought well of him.
RIP Danny.
Appraisal in the clear. Check.
New lender. Check.
Home insurance. Check.
Closing day/time scheduled. Check.
Movers scheduled. Check.
Cleaners scheduled. Check.
U-haul truck reserved. Check.
All packed up and ready to go.
I said, "All packed up and ready to go!"
. . .
Um, still working on that last part.
To clarify: this was our last rent check!!
We are crazy happy and a little exhausted. I am too tired to post more, but it looks like as of August 27th we will be homeowners!
Night before last I drove almost an hour each way to FINALLY pick up the surprise anniversary gift for dear Mr. BITH. Yes, only a few months late - but boy, was it worth it! It turned out even better than I thought it would.
It is a spin on the traditional second anniversary gift of cotton - a t-shirt quilt. I am pretty crafty, but not sew crafty. I think the person who made the quilt had amazing attention to detail and sense of balance. I will happily recommend her to anyone who is interested.
I stole, err collected t-shirts for months before amassing the twelve shirts I needed for the quilt. I even sneaked one out of the trash!
The twelve shirts tell the story of us meeting, dating, changing jobs, acquiring petite monstre and even cover our rehearsal dinner and getting married.
Our good friends D&J tried to get a t-shirt for me from Tu Tu Tango in Orlando (one of our first dates), but apparently they don't feel the need to merchandise the hell out of patrons like the rest of Orlando does and don't even carry t-shirts!
The Atlanta one had closed only weeks prior to me starting the t-shirt quest because their building was being razed. They claim they want to open another location - I hope they do! Until then, RIP Atlanta Tu Tu Tango.
The unveiling
Mr. BITH's reaction was interesting. He exclaimed, "Cool!" when he saw the retro fabrics and got the basic gist of what it was. Upon further inspection he moaned, "Ohhhhhh, you used my favorite shirt and my Love & Rockets shirt?"
{BTW, the silk shirt had a rip in it bigger than my hand - and not on a seam either. He hasn't worn it in a few years. The L&R shirt had so many holes it looked like several generations of moths had gotten to it}.
I knew it would be a little hard for him to let go . . .
Later in the evening he pulled me to him and gave me a kiss and said that he really did love it. He decided it was nice having all of the memories in one place.
I guess he really does love it, because he is not even sharing it with the dog :)
Awareness
Mr. Bungalow in the Hollow (henceforth, Mr. BITH) and I went to Savannah to celebrate our dating anniversary a little over a year ago. Mr. BITH used to live there and we quite like to meander around the squares and shops taking photos.
We were passing a storefront near our B&B, when we both stopped and took two steps back. There was a huge display window with a dining room set placed squarely in the center of the case.
We swayed left and right, then crouched and swayed some more (was there a snake charmer amok?)
Perhaps it was a partial swoon and because we spotted it during the golden hour . . . IT was actually what was behind the dining room set -- IT was the most amazing, wonderful wallpaper . The lighting was perfect. As we moved, the look and the feel of the wallpaper did too.
We were charmed.
I promptly went and tried the door. It was locked, so I knocked. A very confused man opened up and told us they were a private design firm. I guess our enthusiasm was endearing - because he let us in to chat and we left with a sample of the handprinted wallpaper and the name of the maker: Osborne & Little.
That was the beginning of our obsession with O&L.
Old ladyish? To the contrary!
''It's not an 'old lady' thing anymore,'' said Ms. Dow, whose hand-painted wallpapers hang in the homes of such un-grandmotherly types as Michael Ovitz, Calvin Klein and Paul Simon, as well as in the boardroom of the Andy Warhol Foundation and some of the high-roller suites at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
Read more here
I am not under the illusion that it was ever an old lady thing. Like the saying goes, everything old is new again. Wallpaper used to be high fashion and then eventually cycled out. Those young, stylish people that thought a room was only finished when it had wallpaper up turned into older people who still wanted wallpaper.
It was another generation's need to distinguish themselves from their parents/grandparents that tagged it "grandma style" (the availability and sheer volume of horrible patterns along with the arrival of stick-up backing didn't help, imo).
Handmade you say?
Because I like to make things and listen to music and just generally appreciate creation in any form, I am thrilled and immensely gratified to see that so many others are craving the hand-crafted too. This is evident to me through the success of places like etsy and people of all ages knitting/crocheting everywhere you look.
Many of the handprinted papers are based on vintage/historical designs - they are just plain gorgeous. And expensive. So save up, because once you check out the links at the bottom of the post, I guarantee you will want something!
In the meantime, some of these studios offer samples for mere dollars. Why not order some of those and display them?
This sample set from Bradbury and Bradbury is $10.
I think it would look amazing framed (and in N&J's bedroom. Can't wait to see it up and thanks for turning me on to B&B):
This is a children's alphabet sample for $3.
Frame this up and put it in a nursery!
B&B even sells posters. They know they've got it!
A sampling of wallpaper companies
To browse a number of makers in a one-stop-fab-shop, Walnut Wallpaper will do you right . . . prepare to fall in love and don't say I didn't warn you!
Adelphi Paper Hangings
Bradbury & Bradbury
Burrows Studio
Deborah Bowness
Dunford Wood
Johanna Basford
Mason & Wolf
Osborne & Little
Plum Lines
Lately, I have been spotting metal objets d'art that don't totally scream local folk art festival. They have a sense of refinement and whimsy. A rare, delicate balance.
Perfect for the drought in Georgia . . . or for those of us that haven't been able to perfect our green thumb.
Metal potted plants at Wisteria for $29.00
The site says that these were once used in 19th-century France for winter gardens and conservatories . . . interesting . . . might do a little more Googling.
Tole topiary at Ballards for $119.00
These are perfect flanking a front door or even along a privacy fence.
I might actually dot a few along the fence . . .
Whatever.
Our lender officially sucks. Booooo!
Never thought I would say that about this company, but it's true.
Wait. I guess I have one nice thing to say about them. They sure got back to us quickly about our appeal - they told us it would be Wednesday before we heard back from them.
And here it is only Monday.
Their idea of an appeal process? Send the appeal and the new comps our Realtor provided to the same appraiser who originally low balled the house.
What are the chances this same guy is going to say,
They are right. Damn. I totally messed up. I have no idea what is going on in ITP markets. Guess I should have spent more time scouting out the area, talking to ITP Realtors and finding more reasonable comps. Looks like you might have outsourced to a somewhat incompetent appraiser. Oops.
My bad.
Next step? Perhaps a new lender.
Stay tuned.
I have been looking for a ring holder for a while now. A consistent place to store my baubles, you know (I mean, besides the night stand, coffee table, bathroom sink counter, dining room table, computer desk . . .)?
I have seen all of the animals with grotesquely long tails or trunks, as well as the one-pronged pacifieresque looking holders. I just wanted something a little different.
This is a fab find from an antique/consignment store (I actually think it's new). Silver-plated with lots of room for a bevy of beautomous rings. A little whimsy, a little mod.
Loving it.
Another lovely thunderstorm in the ATL. Trees down, electricity out. Dog panting and pacing. Very dark apartment. And hot. Really, really hot.
We packed up and stayed the night at my brother's place.
Thanks bro! And congrats on your new computer.
I expect you'll be blogging soon?
After spending more time on the phone than we ever wanted to and constantly pushing F5 while staring at our joint e-mail account, we received the cc e-mail from our Realtor to our lender containing 10 sales comps within 2 miles of the house from over the last 6 months with $ figures that completely justify the price.
Our lender told us that we probably wouldn't hear anything back about the appeal before Wednesday. More waiting . . . sigh . . .
That was a little more than I could handle - so, I went to Wal-Mart. I am not a huge Wal-Mart shopper, but we did pick up a completely adorable outdoor set on crazy clearance for aforementioned house almost a month ago (I know, cart before horse). Plus, we could stand a few groceries around here.
There is a rug that matches the conversation set (or is it conversating set? That one's just for you, Nancy) - and you know I must think it's pretty darn-tootin' cute if I want to get the matching rug (I am not so into matchy-matchy either). My criteria for getting this rug is that it must be on serious clearance . . . it wasn't and that fact added to my already darkening mood . . .
. . . until I spotted this beauty
{{angelic singing activated}}
Yep. That's right. Green Goddess dressing. You aren't seeing things! I remember one night at dinner (mid-eighties?) my brothers and I noticed that our favorite dressing was nowhere to be seen on the table. My mom told us that they just didn't make it anymore.
I think that blew our little minds; probably wasn't a happy dinner.
Apparently, there are others out there like us. Here's the history of Green Goddess and some other somewhat outraged Green Goddess banter, lol.
i
Not to be confused with Goddess dressing by Annie's Naturals (which I tried years ago thinking it might be something similar).
not. even. close. not. even. green.
I stopped looking after that.
Did I walk away happy clutching my Green Goddess to me tightly? Yes!
Finally. A smile today :)
Then I came home and had a BOGO free DQ Blizzard coupon in my in-box. Mmmm. How's that for some sunshine in your life? Lord knows we need it right now.
Sign up for their Blizzard fan club and you can get one too!
You might have noticed that piece of art propped up behind the Green Goddess in the photo above. It was given to us by our sweet friend, Lorraine, in an attempt to cheer us up while eating pizza the other night. Check out her work. She's good. This is another piece we own:
We'll keep on trudging and update you when we can! Thanks for checking in :)
