Well, after three nights in a row of insomnia (Am I the only writer who runs through scenes in her book over and over while in bed instead of sleeping?), I overslept this morning. I picked a really bad day to do it too since we have a pleasant little winter storm that started rolling through last night and I knew traffic was going to be ugly this morning. So I chugged down a cup coffee, jumped in the shower and hightailed it out of the house.
I was right to be concerned about the roads. My city streets weren't plowed at all, and even the highway looked pretty bad. The freeway was a little better--mostly. Actually, things weren't too bad until I reached my exit. Traffic was backed up way, way onto the freeway and I spent so much time sitting there, that I ended up late for work. I was not a happy camper since it was that darn light rail that screwed up the traffic. I really loathe that train. I haven't quite figured out either why they need to run it every 3 minutes at 6am to a mall that doesn't open for hours after that.
Anyway, now that I have that off my chest, yesterday was a long day. When I got off work, I picked up my parents and drove out to the lighting store to choose fixtures. Why is everything up north and a good 45 minutes from me? Rhetorical question. :-) I only got lost once which is something of a victory for me. Just call me wrong way O'Shea. :-/
The store largely had traditional lighting choices and a few transitional pieces, but I like ultra-contemporary with very clean lines. I didn't see anything I loved, so we started looking through books of lights. And looking, and looking. This was for the dining room area and I was more concerned about this light than the other lights in the house since it's the most visible. In the last book they had, I finally found a couple of pieces I liked. I tentatively picked one of those, chose some fixtures for the bedrooms, and headed downstairs to look at bathroom lighting. As we're waiting for the sales woman, I look up and see The Light.
I also saw the greatest pendant light right next to it. Absolutely super cool! It had like a little crystal ball with beads in it near the bulb and came in various colors. I wanted it so bad--I just don't have any place to put it since I went with so much of the "cans" for lighting everywhere.
I also had an ad from another lighting store with a picture of the outdoor light for the garage that I really liked. The price this place quoted me was $20 higher per light and I needed 2 of them, but the sales woman talked to the store's buyer and they agreed to match the price of the other store. Yea!
Then I was driving home in the dark in heavy traffic over roads I'm unfamiliar with. Always fun, but at least it hadn't started snowing yet.
The builder absolutely, positively had to have the paint colors I wanted today, so as soon as I got home, I had to go through like six gazillion paint cards that he'd given me. Some of the rooms were easy because I want what I already have--pale pink for my bedroom, pale green for the master bathroom, two walls in the great room a rich blue color and the rest of the really open living space a warm creamy color. That color would also go down the stairs and into the hallway.
It was after this I ran into trouble since I didn't know which colors I wanted the other rooms. They had a really great orange color, not too bright, but not too peach or too pale either. The only thing I thought, though, was that orange would get old pretty darn fast. That ruled it out for the main bathroom and the extra bedrooms, but it was too cool a color not to use, so I'm putting it in the laundry room. It's cheerful and I won't be spending that much time in there anyway so I'll be less likely to get sick of it.
The main bathroom was a huge dilemma though. I wanted some kind of color in there, not anything white or cream, but I didn't want it to be anything that would be hard to decorate around. I finally went with a really pale yellowy shade that should be neutral enough to use any other color I want with it.
The computer room is going to be a teal color. It's not real dark, but it's rich and solid. The last room is the spare bedroom. That's on the north side of the house so I wanted a warm color. I chose kind of a peach shade, but not quite. It's very understated. Not so pale that I lose the warmth of the color, but not so dark that it assaults the eyes.
Finally, I was done for the day. Yea! I checked email, visited a few sites and decided to get to bed early. For all the good it did me. Anyway, I can only hope I sleep well tonight. After all, how many times can I rerun the scenes from Eternal Nights in my head?
