What a frickin' day

Mom, my brother and I spent the morning putting in the garden.  Lala was reasonably interested and behaved alright.  She started kicking off a little after lunch.  Between allergies kicking my ass, how uncertain everything's been and how unsettled my day off was shaping up to be, I was pretty annoyed.  I decided to throw another load of laundry in and try to nurse her to sleep.
I stepped into Bard and I's bedroom into a standing puddle of water on the carpet.  It was spreading slowly, running like a tiny creek throughout the room.  I freaked out.  I burst into hysterical tears.  It was just too much.  The mess of clothes, papers, electronics (!) that were all across the floor waiting to be tidied later today were sitting on top of an inch of water.
So Bard and Mom and my brother jumped into action while I freaked out in the living room for a little bit.  The water was in Mom's room and the bathroom as well.  The landlord came, as did my stepdad, and everyone began the tedious task of unburying the source of the problem and cleaning up the ridiculous mess. Somewhere in the line between the bedroom and the hose on the side of the house, a pipe had cracked.  So when we turned on the hose to water the garden, water essentially gushed in the house.
I took the baby out of the house, since our things and shop vacs were suddenly taking over all the space in our little house.  We wandered around Big Box for a while, visiting with the old ladies until we could go home.  The house needed time to dry out so Bard and I ended up taking Lala out into the world for a while.  When we got back, it still wasn't dry but moreso, so we took a really long walk around the neighborhood.
By the time we got home, I was totally done.  I just wanted to go and be in my room for a little while.  But everything was still pretty wet.
All in all, a pretty crappy day.  I'm just grateful nothing too valuable was totally destroyed and that it's a mess we can clean up in time.  Bleeeeehhh.

Dream House

I don't live in a beautiful place.
I've always wanted to live in a place that looked intentional, designed, right down to the bathroom and maybe even the closets.  Like a magazine.  But not really like a magazine, because I would actually like to live there.  And not really exactly like a magazine in that I would like it to be my design and my intention in the space.  Or perhaps mine and someone else's.
I used to think that that was crazy, because I never really knew anyone that lived that way.  But with the increased popularity of design shows and blogs, better design for everyday living seems more in reach than ever before.  Although right now most of my things are inherited, I believe that I'll be able to turn that around someday.
The whole picture is a little overwhelming.  Over the years I have started vaguely collecting things that I like the look of and sort of trying to get a picture in my head.  And so, I've decided to make a list of these things and update it as I discover things I like or refine what I'm after.  I am a list person, so you should probably expect more in the future.

I should probably learn to tidy up better, too, though....

Designs "cues" that I enjoy

• Light.  I love tons of light.  Pretty standard desire.  It's complicated a little by the fact that my main design partner-Bard-likes things dim.  Dim has its place, and I want it as an option, but tons of diffuse white light is really what I crave.
• Minimalism.  I prefer things to look clean and relatively uncluttered.  With one glaring exception
• Books!  Books literally everywhere.  Kids' books, grown-up books, textbooks, cookbooks.  I think as far as clutter goes this is my greatest weakness.  As I type, there are eight new acquisitions on the coffee table/bench in the living room.  I would love to have a room to call the library.
•  Visual warmth and some softness.  Style I am attracted to can be a little harsh.  It needs to be softened up with textiles or warm colors or sweet touches.
• Buddha.  A little dash of Buddha is always nice.  There is something exotic, peaceful and human about them.  Although I don't understand the glitter Buddhas I've seen.
• Quirky details.  By which I mean tchotchkes, I think.  I like spaces that one can explore and discover new things every time.  Or maybe just things to play with.
• Framed art.  My preferred art is probably photography.  I like black and white photography because it's classic and goes with pretty much anything at all.  Black and white can make even a mediocre photo better.  But I also like quirky colorful pieces.
• Hardwood floors.  I think because I hate to vacuum and love to sock skate.  Still thinking  on this.
• Circles.  So round.  So perfect.
• Contrast.  I love the classic black and white look, but anything with a lot of contrast is really pleasing to my eye.

That's it for now, I suppose.  This was fun.  :)