lighting a fire..

There has been much progress in the kitchen...

If I could just light a little fire under my tush to finally finish projects I have started in this room. For example, I need to: grout new/regrout existing backsplash, touch up some cabinets, fit cabinet above built-in pantry for microwave.....and build the House Fund up to add small glass cabinets above existing uppers. Yeah right. I was joking about the last part.....

....for now

full circle...

Well, since a breakthrough purchase last evening, it feels like the disaster that is my dining room is almost complete. I have to say, I came to a standstill on this particular room and pretty much gave up on finishing the design for the time being. I think it was Sher Dawg from YHL that gave me a kick in the butt to finally open my eyes and look for fabric since I can't find curtains to fit my needs anywhere on this earth. She has been so motivating to me lately with her window dressing journey. Why don't I shut up and post the evidence of my change in heart. Here goes...

This little grouping is my dining room inspiration. There are more traces of animal print in this room. Guilty. I love the linen chairs with the nailhead trim. I actually want another chair like that for the living room since the one that is currently in there actually shoud be residing in the dining room with its sister, but the price on Overstock was higher the last time I looked. They were probably my biggest splurge ever next to our 12 x 12 tiles in the foyer. I actually paid $180 for each chair, but had a 20% of total purchase coupon. Check out the price now. Wom wom...


 
Becca Linen Dining Chair
Today $209.99

 

Okay enough about the overpriced chairs. Did you notice the fabric? It's a little bit whimsy and a little bit awesome. Those are my new dining room curtains, people! Well, at the point that this photo was taken, it was just a pile of fabric, but they're curtains now! Where? Wal Mart. How much? $3.97 a yard. Why? Because I love 'em.  How do they look? See for yourself...

The print really reminds me of dandellions. I think its playful and fun. My favorite part, besides the cheapness, is that I actually found a light fabric that I really adore. I thought that would never happen. Seriously, less than $20. They're over 90 inches long and they're just perfect, for me the space.

In closing, take a look at what I'll be staring at all day....or just while I'm in there finishing the living room curtains. P.S. I cheated and there was no sewing involved. Not even by hand. Stitch Witchery all the way, baby. Yes, it's an iPhone quality picture. Someday I'll start using a real camera.....but only if it has a cell phone attached.

P.S.S. Guess what we did today? We cleaned out the garage, basement and even our detached garage and shop. We filled a huge trailer with trash...and some things that weren't trash, too, because we're married and we compromise. It's a beautiful thing.

hanging out

I finally found the fabric of the curtains I've been hemming in my head!



I originally wanted grey and white striped for the living room and also for the area off the kitchen since they're connected, but I started to think they were a little too country strong...as much as I love them in other homes. Catch my G Paltrow shoutout? Joy to the freaking world. I stumbled upon this fabric online and picked it up 25 minutes later at Hancock Fabrics. It is more blue in person so I love it even more than this picture. The shapes feel modern and even a little retro to me with their rounded corners. I'm very excited because my new thing is mixing patterns, textures and adding more color to our rooms. I think I had just had it with the very neutral curtains. I think I had a YHL moment...not to compare myself to those masterminds. Did I mention this slice of Heaven was half off? Yeah, that's right. I paid $9.99 a yard without a coupon. Yea! Here is my current collage of going ons in the loving room.

 I need new rods and hem tape before I introduce you to the new guys..even though they're up already. That's not happening just yet since I have granite guys coming Monday to make a template. I'm so excited I could soil myself squeal. Until Monday, the House Fund is frozen...happily frozen. I can't believe this is actually happening. I feel like I was on the Ellen show and won a fabulous prize or something.

P.S. Meet my friend, Miss Ambrosia White.

Happy half-day Friday!

house woes

It's Saturday! It's supposed to be the happiest day of the week. Wrong-o. Not only did I wake up to full-force allergies, but our dishwasher, the newest of all of our appliances, seems to be having difficulties. I'm kicking myself because it's the only appliance we have besides our washer and dryer that isn't Samsung. Our flat screen in the living room is even Samsung. This troubled appliance is from the Frigidaire Gallery line. I'm definitely a Samsung girl. I just love the clean lines and the quality. If I wouldn't buy an American-made car, why would I buy an American-made dishwasher? Oh well. Too late now. Our Samsung refrigerator that we've had twice as long and use 24/7 is still pimping right along. I have to say, I'm not surprised. I'll get off my appliance soapbox now.

Oh, and did I mention that my husband dropped his ipad on the kitchen floor last night, you know, on our pergo, which is supposed to be indestructible except for its tendencies to not get along with liquids. Yeah, that baby dented like an eggshell. It's okay though because one, only I know where it is. Two, I already am not in love with the floor in general. You know where this is going, right? After the granite is paid for and installed, I guess my House Fund is going toward the continuation of the tile from the foyer throughout the kitchen and I can't wait. After that, we're installing the same hardwood that's in the rest of the first floor in the living room. Yeah, baby. Can you dig it? I can dig it. Luckily, I have a few boxes of that wood lying around and only need one or two or three ..or four more. Here is a picture of the tile that I'm speaking of. Oh, look at that. One of my thrift store finds just happens to be in this picture! I found this glass jar in a Colorado thrift store for $4. It's more teal in person and that's what I lurve about it.

I don't want to sound like I'm not appreciative of my life. I love the little life we live here. We are blessed beyond belief. I should be thanking God I don't have cancer or another illness like so many people that I keep hearing about. As my sweet husband just reminded me, "Things break, that's just the way it is." At least it's just a dishwasher and just a floor. They may have cost me hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of dollars, but this life is very temporary so why am I so worried about the freaking floor...

Stay safe from that creep Irene.

happiness

Sadly, our internet is being a jerk store and won't let me do much this morning. I'll leave you with a picture of something I fell in love with while dining with a friend at a Barrel of Crackers. Who would have known that they sell such darling subway art? It was 40 percent off so it came to about 11 big ones. I thought that was a great deal. I plan on removing the wire......one of these days. It was so hard to get up there that I'm not exactly excited to take it down again.

Have a great weekend!

joining the masses..

I know I said I would be back with a list and snapshots of the bajillion projects I completed this summer, but it's just been really crazy around here. Hopefully by the end of this week I can have them all online.

Well, I finally did it. I bought the mirror I've always loved and have seen numerous bloggers buy. I caved. It's mine now and I only paid $19 because I had a $10 off coupon and an old gift card. You get a sneak peek of a prior project in this grainy photo, a $4 antique chest that I gave new life to. You'll get to officially meet her soon. She has some beautiful new hardware that I am in <3 with.

return from hiatus

Well, there is still a bit of summer left to enjoy, especially since it is now lovely and bearable here in central PA, so this is a temporary return before I get back to the hustle and bustle of what is the remainder of my summer. The end is nigh. I've had many distractions the past two and a half months...house projects, vacations, shopping trips, family picnics and even a few pool days sprinkled in. It is also the month of weddings in my circle. Did I mention our family expanded? We doubled our amount of puppage so playing with and taking care of our girls takes up most of our spare time lately and I am loving it. Being licked and snuggled by puppies...Heaven.
Meet Lola -

Lola is five pounds of muscle, and if you can't tell, yes, they're in love with each other. They're sisters for life.

I'll be back later this week with snapshots of the projects that have kept me busy lately. I'm going to try to post an all-encompassing post each month or twice a month. Who knows, with winter right around the corner, I will probably have a little more time on my hands, but life is pretty full right now!!

I guess there's a roadtrip in my future...

I was so excited to find out that I could purchase the DOMSJO double bowl sink from Ikea online.....dun dun dun.....

It's JUST the splash of white I need to comingle with my white subway tile.

Subtotal

$312.98

Preliminary shipping costs

$349.00

Merchandise total for order

$661.98

.....until I entered my zip to calculate the shipping cost and realized it was MORE than the sink itself. Not to worry, I will have this sink. I would much rather use my husband's company car to DRIVE there and pick it up myself. Thank you very much. I definitely won't be leaving emtpy handed. I'm sure I'll find another thing...or two...or twenty. I plan on calling ahead to make sure they have at least a sink or two in stock so I don't have to pull a Mariah Carey when I get there and the shelves are naked.

P.S. The kitchen cabinets are painted and I'm in LOOOOOOOOVE!

Here's the smaller apron sink that is also smaller in dollars. It looks pretty large in normal pictures....

See what I mean!

I'm worried that if I go to Ikea, I'll come home with this instead....

...not the entire kitchen, just the stainless apron sink. The problem is, our sink is right by the dishwasher so they have to match exactly. That's why I decided to march onward with the white. Plus, I didn't see the stainless version on the website. White will look lovely against our sparkling, white backsplash. Plus, since it goes all the way to the wall, it will save on granite costs. See, I'm being economical here!

One last photo......

I will leave you with a picture of this enormous bad boy! I want it.

Oh So Much

I have so much to share with all of my bloggy friends, life has just been nuts lately. I've been cleaning a lot so I could build my House Fund up again. I will reach four digits this Thursday, thank you very much. I started a big transformation in the house. I began finishing the final part of the living room wall treatment. The entire kitchen and living room = painted, but not quite complete! I've had many exciting weekends. My mom and I were invited to a super fantastic event in Harrisburg, called Derby Day. It was so much fun. I even made a hat. Seriously, I felt like I was going to the Royal Wedding. There have been a few birthdays, one of which belonged to my husband. We had a cute, little family taco night at our home. Life has been so much fun lately that I haven't stopped to write about it. Please forgive me.

Around 1 p.m. on Saturday, my mom, grandma and I embarked on a surprise trip to a b&b....City House!

For some ridiculous reason, some of my pictures aren't working so if you're curious, here is an online photo gallery - B&B gallery

AH-mazing. (I actually booked the same room we stayed in for my birthday, my sweet husband's idea. Love him.) My mom rented three of the four beautiful rooms and surprised my grandma with all of her closest friends to celebrate her birth. At the end of the day, there were six of us. This place is like a Pottery Barn showroom. We had the most amazing time. The two best restaurants we experienced this weekend were Sammy's and Mangia Qui. Brunch upstairs at Mangia Qui is to die for. We did also eat at the Fire House, where I dined on an appetizer that consisted of chicken wrapped in chili encrusted bacon with some kind of tangy and delicious sauce drizzled all over the plate. I'm still hungover from all of the delicious food. Did I mention my mom surprised everyone with rickshaw rides?

She's crazy like that. The drivers drove us along Front Street and across the bridge to City Island, where they were celebrating Armed Forces Day and we saw an Apache, a Black Hawk, and the big daddy, a chinook, take off into the sky! OMWord. The chinook literally looked bigger than a schoolbus. It was amazing. The leaves were blowing off the trees as we were told to move back. It was so cool to see, especially since my uncle is a Marine Officer at the base in Okinawa.

Very cool indeed. Did I mention that I surprised my grandma and her friends with a private tour of the State Capitol? Our security department at work is full of very nice people. Some of the women hadn't been there since grade school so that was a lot of fun.

Um, I seriously need to get ready for work....

Gift From My Husband

Hope all LGTB followers had a fabulous Easter weekend, all 83 of you! I still can't believe that real people read this. It's wild.

One day while we were on a roll getting projects done around the house, Justin decided to TCOB. Now, if you're inside of my head, you know that means "take care of business." If you're not in my head, you may still know what I'm referring to. Either way, he went to his dad's amazing shop and made this beauty. What, you don't like it?


Perhaps it will make more sense in a moment...

I discovered a beautious, hardware-less toilet paper contraption while perusing the GDub aisles one day. Well, aren't you going to ask me what I paid? Forty-seven cents. Thank. You. Very. Much. Despite looking at me that day like I had three heads, my husband came through for me..without me even asking, I might add. I heart him.

Peacock-a-boo!

One day, while lounging in elastic pants, I realized that something was missing when I caught a glimpse of the kitchen bench out of the corner of my eye. It lacked a certain element of - what's the word I'm looking for -


........


PEACOCK! Since there is no moss growing under my bottom, I used the next chance I had to head to my trusty friend, Jo-Ann, for some much needed help. Who would have known - for $2.99 (for a pack of two feathers) before usings a 40% off coupon, my friend had just what I had been looking for. The heart wants what it wants. That day, friends, my heart got what it wanted.

I feel so much better. So does that trusty bench.

This Little Light of Mine {wordless post}