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}

Gaudy Monogram and Closet Visions...

What do you get when you take this...

and add this?

First, you get this...

..and then you get this!

It's a bit much AND I LOVE IT! All I needed was hot glue and fabric....and scissors. This gaudy M will be residing in my future closet, where anything furry and gaudy will always be welcome....including a matching gaudy chair (no, it's not finished yet) and ottoman. YIKES! I can't wait. The M was $3 and I already had the fabric so it was an affordable, gaudy project.

In other news, Jo-Ann's has 50% off of their Easter items right now. Score. I spotted a ceramic piece and immediately thought it was adorable, but had no idea what I would use it for. That's when my brilliant friend had an idea that I ran with.

She said it would be perfect for storing earrings and other jewelry in. Cute, right? At this point I had a flashback to a YHL post where we were introduced to Sherry's little egg holder thingy on her dresser. In the spirit of giving recognition to those who deserve it, the gaudy M was actually my friend's brilliant idea also. She was just on a roll that day. I'm going to keep asking her for her opinion on a daily basis.

So .... here's a little sneak peek of a piece that will be implemented into the closet:

This is the $15 bunk bed ladder that I transformed from "foak" to fabulous.

And one last item that will be in my closet, I am sure, from time to time....

What do you get.....

.......when you add some animal print, upholstery tacks and hot glue?

SOMETHING THAT I LOVE, THAT'S WHAT!

I had this less-than-$5 chair sitting around collecting dust when I could have been transforming it this whole time. Who knew hot glue could fix ugly?! I sure didn't until I was reintroduced to some innovative blogs. Apparently people have been doing this .... like, for awhile now!

I don't want to bore you with logistics so I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. I'll have more details tonight when I HOPEFULLY finish this little piece of eye candy.

STAY TUNED!

Master Closet makeover in the works - BIG PLANS, PEOPLE!

Home Gym Makeover - MORE big plans.

ANNNNNND

Coming up next on my deuglifying list:

Yikes. I better get busy.