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What Pippa Wants ~PippaGoetz

Entertaining Essentials . Fine Art . WPW blog

| STELLA NEEDS HER GROOVE BACK|

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I know, I know… for CRYING out loud Pippa, where the HECK have you been!? Just for the record… there are no guarantees of future consistency being put forth here. Trust me, I wish I could say that I will pop into your inbox each week cheerful as a chipmunk with a motherload of nuts… but the truth is that, I’m really having a hard time being that consistent. Urgh. Whaaaat? Here is the deal… I am going to be dead honest. I lost my mojo for a little while there. Yep. The wind left my sails and the mundane reality of real life crept in. All which was a stark contrast to The hullabaloo that was the holiday season.

Call it ‘Post-Holiday Letdown’, call it ‘Winter Blues’, whatevah. Once that last box of Holiday happiness was stowed away “Life” has been so-so-status quo. Really, it’s just January. In the grand lineup of the calendar year January sucks. Sure, pretty flowers and a few days of above average temps can lighten a mood, but really those are just bandaids and short term happy pills.

Thankfully pink hearts and Valentine’s crafts can fill the late month void and remind us that LOVE really DOES make the world go around and that a dose of spring color can help to lift some of the gray clouds. Well that and a crapload of retail therapy (shhh… don’t tell my husband).

So while I am busy injecting pink (and green) into the overwhelmingly male environs I am surrounded by I remind myself more and more often that there are longer days ahead, warmer weather and sunshine to prepare for, a wee one turning the big 6, spring cleanup and that in approximately 50 days the pool will be open for yet another season of memory making. Heck, in 2 months I may be here bitching about how stinking hot it is and breaking out my annual lament about how our fridge never seems to pump out enough ice.

Until then just note that, as you are reading this, Chris Stapleton and I are ripping out my kitchen backsplash 1 ugly little “50 Shades of Poo” tile at a friggin time. So as long as he keeps crooning, my hands don’t seize up and I manage to not injure myself you can bet your sweet patoot that I’ll be the first one sunning, sipping and toasting myself for having one less project than when the calendar flipped. Which also means that I am fully and graciously accepting all prayers for a smooth mini reno and thanking my lucky stars that I can surround myself with bright beautiful and bold color.

XO,

PIPPA

| A REFRESH & SOME RESOLVE |

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It may come as a shock to you…but, I don’t DO resolutions. Nope. They never work. I try. But LIFE gets in the way, I get side tracked easily … Look! Something shiny!… I am a habitual procrastinator and whirling dervish task accomplisher that likes to see the fruits of my labor nearly instantaneously, or at least within a calculatable (it’s a word) amount of time. And, I get kinda frustrated if I don’t make my end goal, which turns the people around me into lightening rods. Some could also maybe call this a lack of discipline but, I don’t venture to go there. Rather than resolutions I have a “To-Do” list. It’s written on PAPER. I have a special notebook AND, it has a clipboard on it and lemons… It’s totally cute. I scratch things off when they are complete. If I accomplish something that wasn’t on the list I add it and then scratch it off… you know you do the same.

Some tasks can be benign. “Shower today”, “go to the bank”, “vacuum”, etc.. Some are loftier tasks that are to be completed by season or within the coming year. “sand, re-cane and paint kitchen chairs”, “demo kitchen backsplash and replace with subway tile”, “rip out stairway carpet and refinish stairs”. Some of these tasks (like EVERY.SINGLE.ONE I just listed) are carryovers from the last year (and actually from the year before that). The fact that they are still on my list doesn’t mean I failed at my “resolve to accomplish”, it just means that I did SOOO many other things that I couldn’t pull it together enough to tackle it all.
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Seriously though, 2018 is my YEAR ya’ll! I’m GOING to get to those three things… and hopefully a whole lot more that may not even appear on my list because, there are also some things that do not warrant a line item. Shout less, be kinder, reach out to old friends more often, tell my boys how much I love them more, and focus more on being healthy. The things that we all chat about, aim to achieve but that should bullet pointed on our internal lists and not necessarily on paper.
 
So, in the vein of to-do lists… I know you spent your whole holiday vacation wondering how that Guest Room refresh teaser I posted on IG actually turned out. Well, this guest room was NOT on any of my lists. Not really anyway. It was something that I knew I eventually wanted to tackle as we increasingly have more guests staying there (this is our 2nd guest room) but it was so far down on “the list” that I didn’t even give it a second thought. Until an 11th hour decision to quickly pull it together enough so it was not the drab sea of grey and amalgamation of mismatched and wayward furniture not fit for other areas of the house. Wanna see the before? Be warned, the following includes graphic images that you may want to look at through slightly covered eyes.
 
Yuck, right? Let me explain. This is the bedroom area of the apartment above our garage. We have a primary guest room in the main part of the house (which truthfully, is only half finished as well), but this is our secondary. For a long time we had our dear sweet rockstar Nanny living there. She was AWESOME… and she also came with all of her own stuff so we didn’t need to worry about what the space looked like. Then she left to explore other adventures and we had the space back to use for guests. Realistically, it is crazy convenient. It also has a sitting room and ugly little kitchenette which will both get a refresh before the summer and our prime entertaining season (I will spare you those spaces, for now). It’s the perfect spot for friends with kids because it has 2 living spaces. BUT… that was about it. The walls are this funky slightly padded kind of thing which at first we thought might be sound proofing but actually isn’t. There was also paneling… lots of it. Trust me, I am actually shocked that I still have these pictures because I usually don’t have a “before”.  They kinda make me want to throw up a little but now that it is slightly prettier I’m OK.
The furniture is all hand me downs… the bed was from an Aunt, the chair was a carryover from my husband’s great aunt Myrtle (awesome name, right?) and was probably a FORTUNE back in the day when it was made but is currently a mass of lumpy down crammed into a slip cover I sewed when we were first married. For now it stays cause it kinda matches and it’s too friggin heavy to move back down the stairs. The bedside tables were cast offs from other family members and were meant to be replaced by Christmas… if only the stupid Craigslist dude I was supposed to be getting a pair of campaign tables from actually pitched up.
 
The lamps… OH MY GOD THE LAMPS… they were the catalyst for this whole project. I mean sure, I am all about hunt scenes and pheasants, etc. as much as the next girl, but they were a hot MESS. When I found the Caspari Wrapping paper (my something ‘shiny’) there was one of those little cartoon light bulbs that went off above my head. In the supermarket, Aisle 8, there I was, pondering like a Rodin Statue of what I could do with it.. ‘cause I don’t know about you but at $12 bones a roll you can be sure as shit I wasn’t going to wrap  a present with it. But, I had to have it. By the time I reached the check out line it’s purpose was clear. DECOUPAGE!!!!!!!!!!! And in the style of if you give a “Moose a Muffin” one thing led to another. Next thing I knew I was knee deep into my fabric stash and sewing pillows. Lots of pillows. And some paintings. And… you know the drill.
 
Then I needed drapes. BADLY. Enter a kismet trip worthy of praise from my dear IG bargain hunting friend Melinda Jennings… seriously she is the Goodwill QUEEN ya’ll… we are talking GOALS! Anywho.. I know Melinda’s thrift gods were shining down on me because check this out… this was ONE pair of drapes.. faux silk… multi colored buffalo check and LONG… long enough to trim and make valances, wide enough to split each panel into two.. and they where… wait for it … $4.50!!!! FOR THE PAIR!!!!! Yep… major win. That just sent me over the edge with giddiness.
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So, while this is no epic ONE ROOM CHALLENGE level of a refresh, and is still not finished it is by all means FAR better. Sure you will spy these fabrics elsewhere throughout the house but you know what? Who cares. I tacked on a “Resolve to do/finish” and managed to make it happen. That’s not a bad way to close out a year of projects and if you ask me is a pretty darn good way to consider how much I can tackle in 2018. So, cheers to “To-Do” lists. To realistic goals. To the unwritten efforts that have a special file in our heads and hearts. And to making our world a little prettier one roll of wrapping paper at a time. Happy 2018 my friends!
XO,
Pippa

| SECRET SANTA |

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Would you like to know what makes me happy? Tartan, Christmas, blue and white (obvs), channeling Carolyn Roehm and, LION’S HEADS!!! Lion’s heads make me REALLY happy. AND… the fact that when I set this table this weekend to plan for the holidays my father walked in on Sunday evening and immediately said” Do you have a holiday table set yet? I can’t wait to see it!” Now THAT makes my heart sing… he gets me, he gets my passion and he loves what I do, I call that a MAJOR #win.

Usually, I am a surprise kinda girl… but with a docket of revolving house guests (including a toddler) for 10 fun filled days of festivities fast approaching (my husband actually calls it the Festival of Tears), this year I have WAAAAY more to do. So I am pre-planning and pre-setting for the big game. Sounds familiar, right? Yeppers my friends… yeppers, the holidays are like making it to a National Championship for hostesses with the mostesses, but with more champagne.

Candidly, My house is currently a DISASTER…it’s like St. Nick threw mountains of decor in every corner which makes the Witzend Wee Ones ecstatic because the boxes moonlight as an obstacle course for their remote control cars. (Insert bursts of shouting by yours truly). The dogs are underfoot CONSTANTLY and are prematurely waiting for cars to arrive and leftovers to be doled out. They know things… when the table is set they need to be in close proximity of windows ALLLLL OF THE TIME to be sure that they don’t miss a single arrival or opportunity to jump up and down or bark.

I have less than 20 days to nail it all down. That’s fine. I once planned a seated black tie gala for 300 in 3 weeks. I got this. It’s Christmas. It’s family. It’s cozy, and no one cares (OK, other than me) what the table looks like, as long as we are all seated at every chair.

I should be so lucky that the biggest issue on my plate is ‘plates’.  When the time comes, and the table(s) are set, all that should matter is thanks, prayers, grace and cheers and making Merry as we smile knowing that it isn’t the setting that makes the meal but rather the company.

Cheers to the holidays my dear friends. To YOU, and your families, and to knowing that our “people” are what makes our place settings special. All this means that there is a good chance my posts here will be spotty so that this Santa / Elf/ Mermaid/ Unicorn can enjoy this time with her crazy kids, and crack pot family. On another hand I may need to vent.

We all have this important time to spend with ours and our own. If for some reason this means me not popping up in your inbox until 2018 then I wish you a VERY merry and happy Holiday and an outstanding New Year’s in advance. You can no doubt find me IGing my little Christmas heart out though. Your support means the world to me, I truly cannot express how thankful I am for YOU, my dear friends for being on this journey with me!
XO,
Pippa