Southern Comfort

Sick of the Master Bathroom

2011-11-02T18:23:00.000-04:00

Well, we did it again. Another remodel. The victim was our master bath. I've never shown you our master bath because of how ugly it was. I was ashamed. It's been on our list since we bought the house, but for whatever reason, it took us 2 1/2 years to get to it. Here is my train of thought:

Venture back in time with me about 3 weeks. John is in Florida for work all week. I have the house to myself. See where I'm going? Well, I spent plenty of time in our bathroom; but not for the reason you're thinking. Of course I would get a stomach bug the week he's gone. You can envision me hurling my toenails for 4 straight days. It was horrible. But what made it worse, was having to do it in an ugly bathroom. After one particular session of beginning to think I was going to die and laying on our floor I thought to myself: life is waaay too short to have to puke in an ugly bathroom.

So moving forward about 6 days, feeling better with the help of some IV fluids and prescription meds, I start to get the renovation twinkle back in my eye.

So over the past week, John and I have worked our buns off to get this finished. I'll share the details later, but for right now, here's some before and afters. I hope you love it as much as we do!!

Before, realtor picture

Before- half ripped off wallpaper

Before-no storage

After

New Floors

Revamped vanity

We've added some art and shoe molding to the room since I took these pictures. I'll add those in and get to the details about what we did (and didn't do) in the next post :)

Shutter Loks and Finished Project

2011-10-16T19:27:00.001-04:00

Hey everyone! I'm so sorry for my absence, but I'm here to go through the rest of the front porch project with you and hopefully help some people with their shutter issues.

Let me start at the beginning of the shutter debacle. We knew we wanted to re-paint the shutters on the house from the blue that was before. After a lot of thought, we decided on black. Simple, classic and a people-pleaser. Our shutters are vinyl, so after some research, we went with Rustoleum spray paint to get the job done. The painting process was a breeze, but getting the shutters off the house, and put back on was a bit of a struggle.

Vinyl shutters are attached to the house using Shutter Loks. Basically plastic screws that aren't meant to be removed. They go in, but not out. And since spraypaint, well, sprays, there was no option to keep them on the house to paint. Awesomesauce.
Shutter Lok image:

So what's the first thing I do? ~~Panic~~. Errr.. Google. This was one of the only times in my life where Google actually let me down. There were literally no articles about Shutter Loks and how to install them. Plenty of websites selling them, but that didn't help me getting them off. Next idea; call Dad. Since he worked in the construction business for many, many years, if Dad didn't know, we were going to have to wing it. And, being a control freak I am, I don't like winging. Rollercoasters, yes, winging, not so much. I don't like the unknown with projects. Too many possibilities of getting stuck with problems and unexpected expenses.
So we were still stuck with this

So what did Dad have to say? Something I wasn't expecting. "You have to cut them off". Do whaaaat?! apparently, they go in just fine, stay on just fine, but have to be cut off your house. Shoot. No re-using them, I suppose. Ummkay. So, John ran to the shed, grabbed the hack saw and away he went. They're very soft plastic, so it only took a few passes per screw.

Which left us with nubs. This was becoming a very long, drawn out project of many steps. Someone with no patience, who thought this was going to be a quick, pull off the shutters, paint them, and replace kind-of-deal was not a happy camper. But onward and upward we went. stupid shutters. Ok, so now onto the nubs.

To get them out we tried vice-grips. No dice. These things are a beeotch to get out. At least if you don't know what you're doing. Which we clearly didn't. We ended up having to get creative and put a medium size drill bit on the trusty drill and dig them out. Piece. by. piece. It was a long evening. A long, sweaty, tugging and pulling evening. There may have been curses. I won't tell. But here's what some looked like after we mutilated them. Cute right? Thought so.

Finally, we were on to the painting, which, thankfully went by really quick, and I won't go into detail. Just imagine sawhorses set up in the back yard, John spraying and me keeping Maggie out of the way. John is a much better spraypainter than I am, so I let him have at it. I'll gladly sit on the sidelines with Mags.

Putting the shutters back up was pretty easy too. Just purchase your Shutter Loks AHEAD of time. They're difficult to find. I spent 1/2 a day on the phone with hardware stores all around town to find some. We thought we were going to have to order them online, but luckily Home Depot had some in stock from a bulk order. They're pretty cheap too, I think I paid $6 bucks a pack/12. Just hammer them in the holes and you're done.

After some satin nickel spray paint to the door harware, changing the doorbell to black and some touch-ups to some places around the porch the project was done. We LOVE it. And because we all love a before and after, here goes:

And here's more for your viewing pleasure :)

We love driving into the driveway and seeing our handywork staring back at us. And the neighbors like the change too. :-) We couldn't be happier.

Now I need to get to the side/back doors and make everything match. Ah, the work around here is never done :)

Front porch update

2011-09-09T03:08:00.000-04:00

In my last post, I mentioned we were giving our front porch an overhaul. The painting of the front door happened a few weeks ago when the weather was so hot your-skin-melted-off-your-face when you walked outside. Perfect timing for an outdoor project. Go us. Which may explain my aversion to re-living the experience to post about it. But I love the results, so here goes.

Here's a reminder of the house before:

We started off by painting the front door. And before we even start problem #1 arrises. Here's how the conversation went:

Me: "honey, how are we going to paint the front door without letting the cats out (no screen/storm door) or without letting all our precious ~~gold,~~ I mean a/c out?
John: "hmm, I hadn't thought about that. Maybe we need to postpone until cooler weather".

*Don't tease me with a project we can't do until weather decides to cooperate. I WILL find a way. I WILL do it. And you can't STOP me. Hello, my name is Elizabeth, and I have a problem with gotta-have-it-now syndrome. :)

Me: "oooooh, no. We're doing it. I'll find a way."
So I put my thinkin' cap on. Dangerous I know. But I found a solution!

There's this ~~magical~~ product you can buy at the hardware store (at Lowes it was with the weatherstripping supplies) that saved us. Window/Door film. I know, sounds crazy right. Totally worked! It's made to put over drafty doors/windows to prevent seepage and save you moolah. It's pretty much saran wrap that shrinks (when you heat it with a hairdryer) and creates a barrier between you and the outdoors. Woo-to-the-hoo. Best part, It's yours for only $7. Here's what the box looks like.

And here it is in action. Double-plus: it made us realize we really like the natural light and now we want to install a storm door too. :)

But it got the job done, and three coats of paint later, and the door looks great. Here we are making progress after the first coat. By the way, the color is Valspar's Front Door Red. Original I know.

Now it's on to the dab-blamed shutters. They sure gave us more than 1 reason to curse. But that's a whole other post. Coming up next.

Front Porch Overhaul

2011-08-24T22:25:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone! I hope you've all been enjoying your summer and getting the kids back into the old routine. Well around here we really haven't been too productive (hense the lack of posts) but over the past few weeks we've been getting our DIY mojo back and I've got lots of plans to show you!

Back when we bought our house, we fell in love with the cute exterior. Who doesn't love a yellow house? It's the most popular color and sells the quickest according to realtors, and I guess we fell hook-line-and-sinker. We however, weren't so in love with the blue. It was ok, but it wasn't us. It was in good enough shape to stick around until we got around to doing something about it and getting a game plan together. Here's what she used to look like.

And here's the game plan:

Repaint the front door red. I love red doors.
Repaint the shutters black for some nice (and classic) interest
Replace all the fixtures, doorbell and light with satin nickel or ORB (oil rubbed bronze) jury is still out.
Touch up any places with paint that need it.

It's time to get the paintbrushes out and the sleeves (in this weather?) pulled up!

2011-07-25T22:20:00.001-04:00

Here's quickie little project I whipped up tonight.

Last night John and I ordered Chinese for dinner. We're weird and always order a Sesame Chicken. Gah I love that stuff. Of course we try and get some veggies too, but you know where our forks dive first. :)

So anyways, John's fortune cookie read "A Pleasant Surprise is Waiting for You".

We both kinda fell in love with it. Imagine us oooh-ing and awww-ing over it with sticky rice fingers. I know, pleasant right? Thought so.

I knew immediately I wanted to save it. But I needed a way to preserve it since everything around here is on it's own for safety. I would loose all our socks if we didn't use a laundry bag (those things really work!).

So today while I was at Goodwill, I spotted this guy:

He was perfect. Sitting there on the little dusty window ledge just waiting for me to find him. I knew he was the perfect size for some custom (and cheap) home art.

So once I had a chance I cut a piece of yellow paper to fit the frame and put our little message in the middle. I'm not sure I love the yellow background, but it works for now. I may change it to red, orange? Any thoughts are welcome. And since his little frame was pretty well cared for he didn't need a coat of paint, but I'm not against painting it in the future. But for now it works.

And yes, I know you can't read the print very well. The lighting in the living room is really hard to capture good pictures. My apologies.

Do you have any fun and cheap home art? I'd love to hear about yours!

PS did anyone see True Blood last night? At least I now know what to feed alligators :D

June Round Up

2011-07-06T21:51:00.000-04:00

Well, I started out keeping up. Then things went downhill. Oh well, there are worse things.
But here's a round up for you.

We headed off to the beach cottage on the NC coast for some family summertime fun. It was the perfect mini-vacay we both needed and enjoyed celebrating all the summer birthdays together. We always take Maggie with us because she LOVES swimming and fishing. Seriously, the dog can't get enough. We cast the net and Maggie will help pull it back in and check out the loot. You could never even catch anything and she'd always be there just to make sure :)

We celebarted my 28th birthday. Woot. Now, I feel old. If there's anything that I hate about my husband it's that he's younger than me. Every birthday it's like a punch in the gut. Not really, but you know. Girls are always hard on ourselves. The good news about this is he always knows how to make his wife feel like the most special girl in the room at all times. And boy, do I love him for that.

Yes, I caught fireflies. Well, it was more like one landed on me one night while getting the mail. But I took a second to talk to him. So it counts. Right? I thought so.

I did not get any awesome naps on the porch or in the backyard. It's still on the to-do list. I still have the rest of the summer.

Aaaand, my to-do list for the house continues to grow. I swear, we really need to get our butts in gear and get some things done around here other than the usual cleaning. Our paintbrushes probably think we've abandonded them to a life of collecting dust and drying out.

Now, I just need a couple of days without temps in the high 90's to get some things done without the top layer of my skin melting off. Ah, the life in the south. At least I have my sweet tea to get me through.

June Activities

2011-06-07T21:24:00.001-04:00

In my last post, I mentioned things that I wanted to do in the month of June. So far I'm off to a good start at keeping up. Let's hope it lasts. I tend to get a little side-tracked at times. Who knew? :D

Anyways. I've always been one to dabble in baking. I get it from my mom. She passed down her love of all things yummy to all her kids. I love family get-togethers. There's always tons of great food. And wine. And beer. I digress.

Last weekend John and I went to celebrate our nephew's first birthday. Caleb, the birthday boy is John's sister's sweet baby. As a part of his birthday present, we made the cupcakes to mark the celebration. His party was sea creature themed and everything turned out so freakin' cute.

I'll stop talking and just show you.

Vanilla cupcakes with a vanilla italian buttercream frosting. Keeping with the ocean theme, I made little whales out of gumpaste to use as toppers.

Caleb did a great job of entertaining us with his smashing abilities. He wasn't so sure about it at first, but he enjoyed it enough to spread icing all through his hair.

Baby Caleb, we love watching you grow. We love watching you learn and explore. Here's to the first of many, many more birthdays to celebrate with you!

We love you!

In other news, I apologize for the lack of home projects around here lately. John's job is very demanding at the moment, and as much as we enjoy doing projects, it can be stressful to have your house in disarray. So in an effort to keep the peace around here, we've taken a hiatus to large projects for the next little bit. Here's hoping next month we can dig back in and get some things done around here! Stay tuned.

June bug

2011-06-03T22:43:00.000-04:00

I don't know about y'all but I am so thankful it's June. I've been bitten by the June-bug. June marks the beginning of Summer. The end of school, the beginning of grilling (even though we've already been enjoying it for some time this spring. we just couldn't help ourselves!), lounging by the pool, playing at the lake and I have so many plans for this summer I just can't stand it.

Here's my list of things I MUST do this month.

1. Celebrate my nephew's first birthday this weekend.

2. Spend lots of time at the beach house, soaking up the sun.

3. Take a picnic. I may even get adventurous and make our own family picnic blanket. I love this one.

4. Long afternoon naps

5. Celebrate my 28th birthday.

6. Spend time with friends in the warm summer evenings.

7. Catch fireflies.

I'll make sure to keep up with my list and show you along the way :)
What do you have planned for this month?

Most pictures are courtest of Pinterest. Have you found Pinterest yet?

the clutter, the stuff and the house

2011-05-27T13:58:00.000-04:00

We all have it. Clutter, that is. The stuff that fills our life. Fills our house and in some cases, drives us nuts. The show Hoarding is in a world of it's own when to comes down to holding onto things, I am happy to say, our house is not quite that bad. The shed, is another matter. I get hives if I think about it too long. Seriously. :)

I have a couple of rules when it comes to clutter, junk and the like.

1) If it's old, and no longer serves a purpose, or it's broken: it goes (yes, I'm talking about the computer cable that is so out of date and doesn't plug into anything we currently own, the old picture frame that is broken, the pot you don't use, and havent in 3 (or more) years because it's all scratched up. This also includes worn out clothes or anything you just plain don't use anymore (and no, I do NOT rip up old clothes for dust cloths. I buy plain white wash cloths at walmart for cleaning. That way I can see when they're dirty or old and everyone in the house knows what they're used for. and they're cheap).

My philosophy behind this: life it too short to be cramped in your house by things you don't use. If in the case that "you may need it someday" I guarantee you can either borrow it from a friend, a neighbor, or buy it again in a pinch. If you don't use it, you don't like it, or it's not currently serving a purpose, it's O.T.D. (out the door). Typically I give things to Goodwill. I like to recycle and give things another life if I can. Something you're holding on to may be better used by someone who really needs the item.

2) If it's a gift, a knick-knack or a sentimental piece: It deserves thinking about. This is a bit of a stickier situation. But I'm going to take the time to walk you through this step. It's the hardest part of de-cluttering.
sentimental items: Most sentimental items from my childhood are kept away in a tupperware box in the attic. Since my childhood I've gone through the box several times and donated items that were once much more important to me than they are now. I think that as we grow and live, certain things that used to have a lot of meaning, are exchanged for others and for memories. I learned a while back that just because I threw away the love notes from a high school boyfriend doesn't mean I don't remember our fun times together. It just means I needed that box to put something else in it, like the jewelry I wore on my wedding day. Just because the notes are gone, doesn't mean it takes away the memory.

I think a lot of people struggle with this step of cleaning. The candlesticks you got from your grandmother. Yes, you love your grandmother, but your taste in design is different. So for years the candlesticks sit on your buffet in the dining room. You don't really love them, but because of her you want to keep them.
Let's break it down: do you love the candlesticks? not really. Will you love your grandmother any less if you passed them on to another owner? No. Do the candlesticks have any particular significance to you other than they were hers? No. Then you have your answer. You can pass them on. Pass them on and THEN get yourself some new candlesticks that YOU love and buy them in her memory. Win. Win.

If your grandmother was kind enough to give you a set of candlesticks just for the heck of it, I'm sure she gave you some other more meaningful items that you should hold on to. This also goes for Moms, Aunts, Grandfathers, hubands etc. Here's an example of my own:

When my grandmother's house was purged last year (she's in assisted living now) there were so many items that I remembered from my childhood I wanted to keep. I had to really sit myself down and ask if I wanted the item for what it meant, or was I trying to hold on to the memory? In the end, it was the memory I wanted, not the set of blocks. As we continued to go through her home, there were items that John and I both liked and we needed in our home now. The mirror in our guest bathroom came from my Grandmother's home. We had just bought our home a few months prior and we didn't have a mirror for the guest bath. Now it serves 2 purposes.
1. It is useful for everyone who enters the bathroom.
2. It holds a memory of my grandparent's home that I can use all my life.

If an item doesn't serve a purpose for YOUR HOME and YOUR LIFE and you're only keeping ahold of it because of a memory, that's emotionally cluttering your home.

I like to have a goal that everything I have placed in our home has a purpose and meaning. I'm still working towards that goal. I too, struggle with "but what if I need it... " syndrome. I have to get tough on myself and really find out the reason for keeping it.

How do you handle the "extra's" in your life?

Where we slept along the way

2011-05-24T21:04:00.000-04:00

I know I promised I had some more pictures to share with you about Ireland. And I know I've been holding them hostage long enough, so I figured now was better than later. You can thank me for pulling out of my lazy posting streak later.

In true blogger fashion, I took pictures of all the rooms/ homes we stayed in. Of coure I'll comment as we go along (would we have it any other way?). I sure hope you enjoy.

Our first 2 nights we stayed in Dublin at the Regency hotel. We were so tired I forgot to get pictures. Maybe my sister got some, but I did not. If I do get ahold of any, I'll add them to the post. Anywho..

After traveling out of the city and heading west, we stayed at Dan O'Hares B&B for night 3. Here it is pictured below.

Here was our room:

It was a great room with lots of room to spread out our stuff. Other than the weird alien light (which we kept off most of the time) it was quite cozy!

View of the bathroom:

For the most part all the bathrooms are pretty much like american ones other than 2 noticable differences.

1. all europeans love their towel warmers (and this american couple quickly became fans too)

2. Most of the sinks have spouts for hot and cold water (not pictured above). Not one for both. Watching my husband wash his hands for the first time had me rolling.

Night 4 was spent in a small town called Doolin. Here we stayed at Sweeney's B&B. It was a beautiful house perched on the top of the cliff overlooking the Atlantic. The Sweeney family has lived in the house for at least 6 generations. Six!

A small room, but it did the job for a couple tired tourists.

sorry for the dark pictures, I couldn't do much about the lighting.

Bathroom. See what I mean about 2 spouts?

On night 5 we stayed here. Forgive me, I can't remember the name of this BnB. I know it was in a little town called Ventry, and I remember how nice the lady who ran the place was. She went over and beyond to make sure we are comfortable. It was such a relief to meet such wonderful, interresting and welcoming people all along our trip.

And our last night. Night 6 if you're counting was spent here:

Sorry I didn't get a picture of the outside. I'm just glad by this point of the trip and I remembered to get one of the room.

The bathroom. Yes, I'm hiding in the shower.

Irish aren't as proud of their bathrooms like Americans. They are teeny tiny. No one spends time in them the way we do. It's pretty much: get in, get out, move on. Luckily for us, since our bathroom at home is pretty much the same size as these it wasn't a big adjustment. :)

I do hope you get a chance to visit this magical country. We enjoyed our trip so much.

so it's been a while...

2011-05-07T23:02:00.001-04:00

Wow! Hi y'all!
Man, I seem to be taking more and more time away from here huh? Bad blogger (insert me slapping hand here). But I've been away for good reason. I didn't want to mention it before hand, but the hubs and I took a long vacation away. We went (along with the rest of my family) to Ireland. For a week. And yes, it was every bit as green, luscious, and fabulous as you imagine.

So this week has been busy busy trying to get things back to a normal pace. Our grass grew a foot while we were gone and it is still up to our knees. Lets hope we can tackle that this weekend (so the neighbors don't start complaning). We have had little to no food in the house, so planning meals has been a challenge. Hot dogs anyone? Not to mention, after a week of being away the house needs to be dusted and vacuumed again. Just because we went on vacation, doesn't mean the cats didn't play nice and not shed while we were away. Work has been very challenging for us both this week trying to get caught up and we're just so darn tired. So, please forgive my absence.

We have our travel bug out of our system now for this year, so I'll be back a lot more frequently to tackle some much-awaited projects around the house.

So while I am working hard on trying to pull our life back together, I'm going to leave you with some photos of our trip. If you've been to Ireland, you know how spectacular it is. If you haven't, it's a "must-go" kind of place. Enjoy and I'll see you next week!

On the left, the most precious chickens I've ever come across. They led us up the trail to thier coop, just to show us their digs. I'd say they were quite the hostesses!

The photo on the right was taked at Clonmacnoise, a monastery built around 500 a.d.

Auchnanure castle on the left, countryside looking into the town of Doolin.

Beautiful countryside overlooking the mountains of The Burren.

Antique shop on the left in Ventry, and the marina in the town of Dingle on the right.

Scariest moment of the trip!

Baby lambs freckled the countryside. So sweet.

Old castle at Clonmacnoise and Irish countryside. But check out the curves of the roads!

The famous cliffs of Moher and Dingle penninsula.

The coastline of the town Doolin

I took some pictures specifically for the blog, so be looking for those coming up :)

Have a great weekend everyone!

Spring Cleaning

2011-04-18T22:16:00.000-04:00

I've been getting my "spring cleaning" mode on here recently. So far I've vacuumed each room (behind and under furniture) dusted baseboards, scrubbed walls, cleaned out the kitchen cabinets and washed the windows (inside at least, the outside will have to wait until after the pollen leaves). Here'a little project I scrubbed while John was at work (cleaning up after the tornado's) on Sunday.

**Make note, I hate this chore. There are a thousand other chores I'd rather do instead, so this is kinda a big deal.**

Our oven before:

Umm.. eww.

Overflowed pecan pie remnants? check.

Holiday Chex Mix pieces? check.

Bacon grease splatters? check.

It was in desperate need. Thank GOD for oven cleaner.

After:

Other than a couple stubborn spots. All clean.

So pretty.

In other news:

Be careful when super glueing things together. This is liable to happen:

whoopsie. good thing we had some fingernail polish around to help peel it off without taking my skin with it. :)

I hope y'all are off to a good start for your week :)

Guest Bedroom transformation

2011-04-13T10:01:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone! I'm so sorry about my absence. Things have been nuts around here lately. I've told you for forever that I would post pictures of our guest bedroom, and I figured it was high time! So instead of me rambling about each picture, I'm going to let them do the talking (which I'm sure you appreciate!).

Starting from the very beginning... Here we go.

Realtor picture of the room from when we bought the house. What an ugly 1/2 working ceiling fan. It's still there too. Baby steps with this house for sure...

Mid-painting. We took the doors off to make it easier, and they still aren't back on. Whoops. Oh, and who am I kidding. I can't stop talking. You all know that by now right? I've listed the paint colors towards the bottom of the post for those interrested.

Self explanatory mid-work mess.

But the mess is worth it. Now, I have my calm space.

See?

walking through the door. The paint is a perfect mix of white, purple and gray. It reacts differently to light as you can see as you scroll down the page.

The dresser above was a gift from an old friend, Hey Donna! I love putting family pictures here.

The headboard is made from an old door painted and distressed. Love.

The roman shades were purchased from JC Penny's. I finally got it right after 3 failed attempts at the wrong size. But they're the perfect creamy color and pop against the new white trim.

My favorite tree blooming. I sit in this window and stare a lot. The perfect perch to watch evening storms too.

See? Told you the closet doors still aren't on.

The room is painted with Valspar's Lavender Moon in an eggshell finish and High Gloss White for the trim. And for those of you on the lookout for our children, there's Pepper, getting in on some camera action.

Of course I still have a few things I want to update.
New bedside lamps. I'm getting over the parisian theme.
I'm contemplating painting the dresser a fun bold color to stand out or maybe I'll keep it safe with a soft cream. Thoughts?
The ceiling fan has GOT to GO. Soon.
And of course we need to get the doors painted and put back on. Hopefully we'll have that project crossed off our list before we have guests drop in :)

So there you have it, for now. I can't help but update and tweak things as I find them. But I'll certainly let you know when that happens. I hope I haven't talked too much. I know, it's a problem.

Using what you have to redo a room and not fight it

2011-03-22T11:11:00.000-04:00

That has to be the longest post title to date.

In the last post, I showed you this picture of our new rug.

Luckily, it was free, but in case you missed it, you can read all about it here.

Ok, so here is where we get a little tricky. With the addition of the new rug, came the task of getting everything to "match". Now, when I say match, I mean look cohesive. We don't really have a "style" for our house. It's a modge podge of hand-me downs along with a few items we've been gifted and some we've picked up along the way. The magic is trying to get them all to look natural to the space for a layered look that stays in tune with today.

Now, that that's out of the way. Let me go back a little further. Our living room in our apartment was bright, airy and hauuuuge. We called it the 'football field'. Because it was so bright I could afford to put dark colors in it and the room still looked bright and airy. However, when we moved into this house, our living room is small. I really wish it were larger, but without knocking down walls, adding more sq. footatge to the house and taking out a construction loan, we're just going to have to work with it.

Remember last year when I tried to make it a little more bright by painting the fireplace? And adding more Spring-like colors? I loved the look, it was great... until Fall came around. Then I was stuck once again trying to fit in colors and elements to match the season and what I was feeling with the weather. This process nearly killed John. He doesn't like furniture being moved all the time. But I just wasn't happy yet. It wasn't speaking to me like I wanted.

So off to the drawing board again. Sigh. I needed to change the room so I could let it flow seamlessly with the seasons. I needed it to be comfortable. I needed it to be us. Why was I fighting this so much? Finally, it hit me. Elizabeth, use what you already have and works! Duh. It was a lightbulb moment.

So, with one last urge and pleading with my husband to help me move furniture again it was accomplished.

I wanted symmetry on either side of the fireplace, so I moved the desk that was on the left side of the couch over to the right to balance the bookshelf.

(Pickle really does try to get in every picture)

Then I added the pair of black lamps.

(Can you find Pickle in this one. I swear it's like Where's Waldo around here)

Now we're getting somewhere.

I needed a table to go where the desk was. I've mentioned it before, but this is my side of the couch, so I need a place to put the laptop and my sweet tea. Priorities first :) So I pulled a side table (that matches the coffee table) we'd been keeping upstairs to put in this spot. I don't love it, but it will work until we find something we love.

I apologize for the horrible wobbly picture above. No matter how I tried I couldn't get this shot to turn out, but it gives you an idea.

Nothing really changed in this corner of the room, but I added my little Goodwill lamp to the table.

There are still some things I'd love to change/add to the room.

1. We need a new couch. Desperately. The one we have now is a hand-me-down and it's so comfy. We have yet to find one we can both agree on, but we're working on it.

2. We need a new coffee table. The one we use now is cheap. I bought it (and 2 side tables, one is still upstairs, the other is beside the couch now) on Craigslist right before we moved into our apartment as we need something then and for $15 for all 3, the price was right.

3. New pillows for the couch. This is a really simple fix. The red ones on there now are actually left over from Christmas and never got put away. Oops. I'll be on the hunt for some cute napkins or fabric so I can make new ones.

So there you have it. We're done with the living room for now. Other than a few tweaks here and there :) I'll be getting to some new and fun projects coming up, with some never-before-seen rooms of our house. I know, EXCITED! But that's the great thing about a house, they evolve with you. I love watching ours change as we've settled into the space and how we live.

Hopefully I've inspired you to change what you don't like. Keep what you love. And enjoy the process.

Living Room Rearrangement... Again.

2011-03-20T22:36:00.000-04:00

I know, I know. It's getting quite ridiculous how often I show you pictures of our living room. I promise, we do have other rooms in our house. Pinky swear. But because this is the one room where we spend most of our time, it means a lot to us to make it ours.

After we had our floors put in, we used a scrap piece of carpet (really, it was a piece we cut into a square) and put it in the middle of the room as our "area rug". It did the trick for a while. Then, it started fraying, getting dingy and thanks to our newest addition, Pepper, it started looking a lot like a rag doll as she would grab pieces and run with it, watching the rug unravel as she went. Awesome. So we were in need of a new rug.

(picture from last spring)

Problem #2 was we didn't have a whole lot of moolah to put into said rug. I try really hard to put natural materials in our home. Curtains (showers included), I prefer all cotton or linen. Bed linens, all cotton or flannel, and for rugs, wool, cotton, or jute. I don't trust the off-gases of cheap, man made materials.

Let me explain why.

I've never mentioned this on this dear blog before, and I dont want to make a big deal about it, but my mom was diagnosed with MS (multiple sclerosis) 9 years ago. Along with her diagnosis, came a lot of changes to our family. And a BIG one was getting rid of and not putting anything (within reason) into our bodies that isn't 100% natural. No Splenda. No aspertame. Fresh fruits and veggies. No artificial flavors (except for the occasional Cheetos, good golly, I love some Cheetos). And surrounding ourselves with only natural materials. The reasoning behind this is that there really isn't a lot of long-term research showing the effects of man-made chemicals. Cancers, lead poisoning, asthma, COPD, and many other health issues can be directly linked to the materials you bring into your home.

So when it came to our rug situation, we were stumped. We needed something 6x9' or 8x10'. And a rug that size that's comfy, natural AND a bargain is few and far between. Enter Mom. My hero. Mom and Dad went to a neighborhood yard sale last fall and found a rug. They purchased it (for 15 buckeroos!) thinking that Annie, I, or themselves would one day need a new (to us) rug. It was in great condition and who can pass up a 100% wool rug? Luckily, when I mentioned to Mom our delima, she had it solved for us in about 5 minutes flat. Yea Mom! And it looks a heck of a lot better than our scrappy carpet :)

I have to say, I'm loving how our living room is evolving into one of our favorite spaces. We are still moving things around and I'll give you an update on all our re-arranging in the next post.

Free Paint Sample from Valspar

2011-03-11T15:50:00.000-05:00

I think I must be the paint spokes-person now. After being asked by Divine Color to test out their product, which you can read all about here, I've now been contacted by Valspar. The good news, is this time it benefits YOU!

Over the next month, Valspar has paired with Genevieve Gorder (you know her from HGTV and Trading Spaces) and will be giving away 1,000 paint samples every day! No shipping, no taxes, just free paint delivered straight to your door! I requested my paint sample, and it arrived just the other day. I can't wait to get some color on our walls :) You can choose from Genevieve's favorites or one of over 3,000 colors from Valspar's collection. Consumers just need to visit Facebook.com/ValsparPaint and click “Like” to receive their FREE postage-paid paint project starter kit.

Along with your paint sample, they provide a mini paint tray kit (with roller) and a 5$ off coupon for your next gallon of paint. All for FREE. That's the kind of price that fits my budget.

Be sure to let me know if you request one from them. I'd love to hear about your choice of color! Now that it's Spring, get some color on those walls!

Happy Painting!

GENEVIEVE GORDER SAYS “SPRING FORWARD!” WITH THE VALSPAR ‘POWER IN COLOR’ GIVEAWAY: THOUSANDS OF PAINT SAMPLES OFFERED FOR FREE
Gorder Invites Consumers to Sample Fresh Hues for Spring—and Any of the More Than 3,000 Valspar Colors
Discover the Transformative Power of Color with Fresh Paint and a Fresh Attitude for 2011

Getting Back on Track

2011-03-03T21:11:00.000-05:00

Hi friends!

Shew! We're home (well, we have been for over a week now, but have just now gotten around to putting the luggage away) And now that we're unpacked, the laundry washed, the kids fed (and loved on), it's back to reality.

Things flew back into high-gear once we arrived back home. John's job is both very demanding of his time and attention at the moment, so I've had to tackle a lot of the house stuff myself here recently. Unfortunately, a lot of it is just cleaning and nothing exciting. Boo. I could write posts about the mounds of laundry, the piles of pet hair, or the stack of pots and pans in the sink, but I didn't think you'd like to hear too much about that. Am I right?

But I wanted to take the time to talk about projects. The good, the bad, and the ugly. The good news about DIYing is that we get a lot done on a strict budget. The bad thing is it's all done on our own time (which we love doing) but it does take a while, and some projects take longer than others. And the ugly? Well, we've got plenty of ugly. Either things don't turn out the way we intended the first time, or they just don't get completely done. Our problem is the latter. We have a LOT of projects that we've started and just haven't gotten around to finishing.

We have full intentions to get the job 100% done, but we get side-tracked. We're both at fault. Take for instance, our floors. We started this project last April, and here it is nearly a year (wow!) later, and we've still got that last 4% left to finish.

Or the paint job in our master. I painted this room the first week we owned the house and never got around to finishing the last little crevice in the doorway.

Or how about the white doors downstairs? We prepped and primed two doors to get them ready for their white makeover, but that's as far as it got. We've been living with a modge podge of wood vs. white for over a year now.

It's not that we're lazy. We're not. But things get in the way of intentions. Like with the doors. Yes, we fully intend on painting ALL the doors in the house. But after priming 2 of them with spray paint (which gave us fabulous coverage) not only did our trigger fingers kill, but we decided it would save us much more money and time to buy a paint sprayer and do the rest of them all at one time. I look forward to the day we can have all our doors and hardware match.

But I'm guilty of another problem (and I know I'm not alone on this): After a while of looking at the same unfinished project, the thought of finishing it becomes a chore. It starts with wanting to complete it, but then the weather turns cold, the holidays arrive, and from there the excuses continue to build. And now, it's a chore to complete. It's more fun to start a whole new project with completely different results than it is to finish the one you started. I hate it, but it's the ugly truth. The DIY truth.

So with the ugly out there, for all you to see:
I vow, that by the end of this year, to wrap up all the unfinished projects around our house. I know, I just said it. I've now committed myself. But that's a good thing. It will keep me honest and (hopefully, let's keep our fingers crossed) make me get my butt in gear and back on track to our original vision for our home.

What do you have in your life that's incomplete (DIY or not)? I'd love to hear from you.

Coconuts Part III: The last of the Trilogy

2011-02-25T14:52:00.000-05:00

How's that for a title? When I started this vacay post I figured it would be in 2 parts, but not 3. Oh well. You get to ~~hear~~ read more of me. Or you can just skip through the pictures. I don't blame you. Pinky swear.

Here's a picture of the resort. Can you believe this shot? On the last day, I may have crawled hallways looking for the best place for a good picture. I may have gone up a flight of stairs that lead no where. I may have found a window for roof access (when I say window, I mean a hole in the stucco wall since they don't use "windows" in Mexico. Too much glass and cleaning I suppose). And I may have hung my head out said "window" and noticed a sign that said "employees only". Why in the world would they put the best place for a picture in the only place I could crawl to for employees only? And just so you know, J. wouldn't come with me. He's not adventureous like that. I think he's afraid of getting in trouble. Brown noser. Just kidding. Kinda.

I loved the resort. It was beautiful. I'd love to hire their landscapers to come to our house. I don't know much about yard work to make things pretty. I know how to rip up what I don't like and make a complete mess, but putting it back together is out of my element. Drats.

I was able to take up a new hobby while we were there. It was called Coati hunting. It was my idea. When we first arrived, bags in hand, I spotted one of these little guys.

They're called Coati's (pronounced coat-ee). After first glance, I was hooked. Was it a mongoose? A racoon? A monkey? Golly they're cute and most importantly, can I hold one?!? It was instant love. All week I stalked them. I caught the picture below coming back from the pool one afternoon. The people in the room above were feeding them Fritos. How adorable are they? John wouldn't let me get much closer. He was afraid I'd get some weird disease or my eyeballs scratched out. He's so protective, and again, non-adventurous. Looking back I wish I had smuggled one back home with me. At least I know I could fill my bag with Fritos and they'd be just happy as a clam. Besides, who can resist the smell of Fritos?

I'm sure once I batted my eyes at the Customs officer they'd let me bring him back. Right? Thought so.

Can't you just see our house with John, myself, the dog, the two cats and a kote? The cats would have a ball! I can practically hear the hissing now. Ha!

So there you have it. The highlights of our wonderful trip. I want to go back again. Maybe for a 5 yr anniversary? Yes? Done. See you in 3.5 years Mexico.

*P.S. I've gotten lots of questions about how safe we felt. In a lot of ways, we both felt like we'd never left the US. Everyone was polite, accomodating, helpful and fun. We saw no evidence of any turmoil. Several staff at the resort said the community of Cancun is very protected by the locals because they rely on tourists for their livelihood. And I'd be happy to return any day.*

coconuts part II

2011-02-24T21:25:00.000-05:00

Now, where did we leave off? oh yes. Snorkeling. You can check out all the under water pictures in the previous post. These are the 'above deck' action.

We were on a huge 30 ft. catamerand with about 20 other excursionists. The sun was shining, the wind was blowing, it was an aamzing time. Perfect paradise.

I thought it couldn't get much better, until we came upon this beach. I'm not gonna lie. I was so excited to see the beach that I forgot to get more pictures of it. Pepe (our tour guide) had a special name for this little island (again, I was so excited I don't remember the name of it DANG!) he's said it's the most beautiful beach in the world. I'm a believer, but since this was my first time to anything south of Miami. If it weren't for John, I would have jumped off the boat, swam to shore and stayed there forever. At least until I realized I wasn't prepared with my 3 things to take to a deserted island. *dang it*. I should have been more prepared. My parents are Boyscout leaders for cryin' out loud. *Gah* Slaps hand on forehead. I'm only kidding. Kinda. Sorta.

You'd want to stay too. I promise.

Sigh.

Anywhoo. On the next day (Wednesday, if you're keeping count) we decided to do a little "culturalizing" of ourselves. We went to Tulum, aka Mayan Ruins. To be honest, we were a little disappointed. We both love history and were really looking forward to getting some great info, and sure there were tid-bits. But overall we were looking for a little more than a 10 minute intro and our guide pretty much dissing us and told us to meet back at the bus at 12:30. Ok. Now what?

We're stuck looking at old rocks for 2 hours with barely any shade. Staring at these guys...

I can only imagine my skin looking like this after another hour. Awesome.

So we walked. And walked.

Did I mention you can't walk or climb on the rocks either? Total bummer. Something about them being "unstable" and "crumbling". Whatevs.

So we continued our walk. It was burning up. At 10:30am. Then we found this:

Oh sweet Jesus. How do I get down there? I had a mumbling husband behind me, something about being thirsty and hot. We kept walking... and I found it. A way down.

Holy. Moly. This definately beats the beach I couldn't reach yesterday. It was undescribably gorgeous. Definately worth the walk. And the steep steps.

Lots of steep steps.

So that was what we spent our days away from the hotel doing. Tulum wasn't so great, but the beach was. And I will say it was pretty cool swimming in the ocean looking up at mayan ruins. Probably the only time in my life I'll be able to do that. I'll follow this post with the last of the coconut story.

And I left a video for you to view of "the spinnaker". I'd always heard of Spinnaker's but had never seen one until this trip. It's pretty much a sling that goes under your butt and swings you through the air. A lot like parasailing, but there's nothing holding you in, and you can break your arms. Which is why we were too scared to do it. But others did... Enjoy!

coconuts anyone?

2011-02-20T23:08:00.000-05:00

As I promised, I'll share with you what John and I have been up to for the past week. We went on our honeymoon. Yes, it's very belated. But just as wonderful. After our wedding in October of '09 we did take a week off work. But we had a stay-cation. We wrapped up the wedding and spent an entire week at home. It was wonderful, relaxing and much-needed. We'd always planned on taking our honeymoon, but it took us a while to get it planned and the vacation time accrued. So at last, it happened.

And because it was such a fantastic week, I'm going to break up the week into a couple of posts for you so you won't get bored of my ranting all at one time.

Last Sunday morning (at a very cold 20 something degrees) we left and headed to Cancun, Mexico and had a wonderful time. It stayed around 80 degrees and sunny all week. Tropical paradise. I highly recommend going if you are looking for a little getaway.

We had views from our room like this:

and this

The first day I laid under here. And sang/ hummed all afternoon.

I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts...

There they are all standing in a row...

now I have you singing it don't I?

Don't lie. I know you know the words.

Anywhoo, that's all we did on the first day. I don't think there was a moment I didn't have a drink in my hand. Pina Colada's. My very favorite.

The second day we got more adventureous and headed out for a day of snorkeling. It was our first time. And between the times of spitting, sputtering, inhaling the sea water, and nearly choking ourselves, we caught some pretty cool sights.

Hello Fishy! Reminds me of Dorris from Finding Nemo. Just keep swimming.. just keep swimming.

See the turtle? So cool.

Stay tuned for more pictures and adventures in the next post..

Eye Candy and Blog Love

2011-02-14T08:00:00.004-05:00

Hey everyone!

I hope you're getting some of this beautiful weather this week. It's hanging around in the 60's in NC so Spring is on the way! Wahoooo! I think I can say with fair certainty that we're all ready for some warmer weather.
John and I are busy busy this week doing something we've never done before. I can't reveal what it is yet (I know, I know, I'm such a tease) but I can't wait to tell you all about it soon.

In the meantime, I'm going to leave you with some eye candy from posts around bloggy-land that have caught my eye. Enjoy! *click on the links to view the full post*

See what Melissa over at 320 Sycamore did with $5 and a little genious-ness. It's amazing what a little digging around at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore, Goodwill, or yard sales can can bring to you.

Don't you just love it?!? I've been thinking about this project all week. I'd love to find a light with great lines and turn it into something that would normally cost a small fortune.

Next, is this project from Brittany over at Pretty Handy Girl. She made this little reading nook/ hang out for her little one and I'm just speechless. I'm completely in love. Did I mention it was once a closet? Simply awesome!

How about this for an amazing house project? Joan at For the Love of A House is transforming a beautiful farmhouse in New Hampshire. She moved there with her husband from Texas and has the most amazing transformations. Her kitchen simply blows me away.

And last (but not least) Centsational Girl, Kate. She is the queen of furniture revamps, crafting and design. Her amazing trellis-stenciled wall is just impressive. I would love to do a feature wall just like this one day. You can learn all about how she did it by clicking the link.

I have such a privelege of watching these (and so many other) women craft, re-create and inspire. Blogging is such an amazing part of my life, and I don't ever want to stop. I've made wonderful friends and learned so much from each one of the blogs I read daily. I hope by sharing these projects, you'll too, see how much talent there is out there to inspire you.

Have a wonderful week everyone. I'll leave you to peruse the links above.
Oh, and Happy Valentines Day!

We're Official

2011-02-01T11:56:00.000-05:00

If you haven't already noticed, this here blog has a new address. It was about time I got rid of the extra long URL you all are so used to. You know the one: elizabeth-southerncomfort.. blah blah blah. It felt like it went on forever sometimes!

I chose that link because at the time I started the blog baby I didn't know how big or even if people would read what I had to say. So I chose what Blogger had available. It was free, so it worked and I can't complain about free. It fit the price.

Well, here we are nearly 2 years old (2 YEARS !?!)! Does time fly or what? And I figured it was time to give Southern Comfort some extra bloggy love. Yes, that's right. Bloggy love. As of last week (when I got the email everything is confirmed) We are now 100% free of the old URL. The new one is as follows:

www.southerncomfortlife.com

With the help of John, we narrowed down some ideas and paid for our own domain. We tried southerncomfort.com, but that address was already taken for a well known adult beverage company. So we had to get creative. The blog is now getting enough attention (thank you!) and growing fast enough we felt comfortable throwing a few buckeroos at it to keep it going. And to make things simpler for you.

Now, for the non-computer savvy readers out there (hey Mom!) No worries, you can still keep going to the old site and it will redirect you. But you may want to consider adding the new one to your favorites list. :)

We've been busy bee's this weekend! Stay tuned for *gasp* pictures of our (never before seen) upstairs! Before, during and after pictures coming soon... eek, we're excited!

Devine Color Paint

2011-01-30T22:05:00.001-05:00

eWhat a whirlwind of a week! I can't believe how fast it went by, and to be honest, I haven't gotten near what I wanted to get done, done. Some weeks are slow, mundane and feel like you'll never get to the weekend, but for some reason this past week just slapped me silly. Here it is Sunday, getting geared up for another week...
First, I want to congratulate my sister. She just moved with her handsome hubby to a new town, bought a gorgeous house (stay tuned for pics!) and she's finally landed a (full time) job. Annie is a teacher, and had to give up her dream job just before Christmas to follow her husbands dreams. Since the job market has been slow to recover, she was awarded a less-than part-time job as a reading tutor for a mere 6 hours a week. Luckily, last week she got word of a position available as a high-school science teacher! Wednesday was her first day and I'm thrilled to report she loves her school, her students and her curriculum! It has been such a blessing for our family to see Annie so excited and engaged in her career. She's an amazing teacher and her kids are so lucky to have her. Congratulations Annie!!!

Now, onto the bloggy stuff:

A few weeks ago I was contacted by a design company called Devine Color (http://www.devinecolor.com/ for more information). They are launching a new line of paint and offered for me to give it a test-run. Of course I'm happy to oblige as you all know my love for paint. So when my package appeared on my door step, I couldn't help but tear into it immediately.

I couldn't believe it, but they sent me not just one but 3 paint samples! John and I have been itching to get started on projects above the stairs in our house. Of course when we moved in, we thought we'd have the whole house painted within a year.. ha! Here it is a year and a half later and we're just now getting around to thinking about it. Silly newlyweds ;)

Anyways, I got my stuff together to try out the new paint. I love how their samples come in re-seal-able (is that a word?) packets with a little color window so you can see the paint inside.

Yes, that's a mason jar. I was too impatient to find a suitable cup for the paint. Hey, it worked! Just don't tell John I poured out all his screws to use it. Ha! Ok, Ok, I promise to put them away when I'm done.

Divine Color claims that their paint "goes on like rich yogurt" and I was curious about this statement. I wanted to know if it really covered as well as I imagined.

Here we go!

Yes! Yes it does. It's a very thick paint, but it covers beautifully and slides on the wall like silk. I was very impressed. I purposely "feathered" my edges so when I repaint or put another coat on, it won't be noticeable there was a swatch there. In the package the paint looked a lot more "buttery" in color (as you can see in the above pictures) and it dried a much deeper color.

I wish we had better lighting in our upstairs hall (one day.. another project). Our current fixture is just horrible and when I used the flash it was worse, so please bear with me.

Devine Color has several tools on their website for choosing a "trend proof" color to withstand time as well as design services and much more. Now, to choose a paint color for the office...

Southern Comfort and Overstock

2011-01-18T13:05:00.000-05:00

Hiya Peeps!

I hope everyone is getting their week off to a great start. Since we re-arranged the living room back in this post I've been contemplating some new items to help bring our look together. Since right now we have a modge-podge of sorts I'd like to try and streamline a few details to really get the look I want.

Luckily, I was contacted by the wonderful staff at Overstock.com and they've offered a great promotion for all Southern Comfort readers. If you use promotion code 121745 you'll recieve 10% off your entire order! Pretty sweet huh? The promotion code never expires, but you can only use it once per email address.

If you've never heard of Overstock, they're an online company that sells everything from fabulous jewelry to camping gear. They always have great deals and are a pretty sweet way to get awesome stuff for less. Best part, all their shipping is only $2.95.. no matter the size or weight of your order. Sahweeeeet! So no more contamplating a purchase because of shipping costs.

So what have I been considering buying this week? Take a look:

These lamps are just perfect to flank each side of our fireplace. I've been searching for a taller lamp to set on each table to balance out the height of the fireplace. Right now I have our current (stumpier) lamps sitting on stacks of books to boost their height. These babies will do just the trick for us! Can we say, I love lamp? I think so.

http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Steel-Kiss-1-light-Steel-Lamps-Set-of-2/5633109/product.html

From the second I saw this rug, I wanted it. I love the geometric shape, but it's not so modern that it wouldn't fit in with our other decor. I have plans to get it as a runner and put it in our master bath (after we renovate it). Wouldn't it look pretty sweet in a all white bathroom? (hint: we're thinking marble floors and subway tiles) Swooooon.

http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Hand-tufted-World-Classic-Bluish-grey-Wool-Rug-5-x-8/4817426/product.html

And to get a little more inspiration for the bathroom, how about this faucet? Curvy, cottage-y (yes, I'm making up words now) and sleek. I think it will work perfectly.

http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Vintage-Widespread-Bathroom-Faucet/5473652/product.html

And since blogging requires taking pictures, I'd loooove to have one of these bad boys one day. I'm no professional photographer (as you can tell from previous posts) but I'm more than excited to learn. Of course it would be more exciting to learn and play with a good camera. And Overstock offers free shipping on all electronics by using this code 202234.

http://www.overstock.com/Electronics/Nikon-D5000-Digital-SLR-Camera-Refurbished/4584346/product.html

I hope I've encouraged all of you to get out on Overstock and use our brand new code. I'm so excited to get started on new projects for 2011 and share them all with you as we go!

**All the ideas and opinions expressed are my own. No monetary compensation was received for doing this post, however, I was provided with a discount code**

living room switch up

2011-01-13T21:57:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone! I do hope everyone is staying warm with all this winter weather we've been getting. The east coast has really been getting hammered this winter. With the latest snow/ice storm coming through on Monday night, John and I were both iced in on Tuesday. We played with Maggie for a while in the yard, but the ice was so slick she kept falling and slipping every-which-a-way. Poor dear. After a few minutes of trying to learn to ice-skate to her frisbee she'd decided enough was enough and just laid down. I can't say I blame her.

So without being able to actually play outside, John and I decided to play inside and re-arrange a few things. Now, let me disclose this post by saying I'm a horrible blogger. I completely forgot to take pictures of the before or the during, so you'll just have to bear with me and our after shots (I was in one of my gotta-get-it-done-now. I have to see what it looks like. John come help me push the desk this way moments). Hopefully you won't find our older pictures of the living room to be too unbearable. :)

After I *finally* put away the stocking stuffers that have been laying on our mantle since, oh, Christmas day, vacuumed up the rest of the tree needles (oh my gosh, I think the house is actually making them!), and found a home for the rest of the mini Reese Cups the cats have apparently found and have been enjoying knocking around the floor and under furniture, I was able to see what we were working with. Boy it feels good to see the furniture again.

I haven't been 100% happy with our living room colors or arrangement. Sure it's fine, John certainly thinks so. But I want a room I'm excited to be in. It doesn't call to me. I feel like it's just a bunch of brown colors smooshed in there and I'm left trying to find a way to make them all work together. And we spend so much time in our living room I really want to make it feel like us. I've had decorators block with this particular room for a while now. I even tried to do a makeover last Spring, remember? Which I really liked, until Fall came and the blues/ creams had to go for the season.

So yesterday, since we had some time on our hands, we moved some things around. Here's where you get to play "where's Waldo" with the pictures to find everything I changed ;) Just kidding. I'll give you the run down below the picture.

I replaced the valance with a red one (I did this around Christmas to be more, well Christmas-y and for right now I like it. It may change again once Spring gets here, but for Winter it's fine)
We removed the tall black lamp in the right corner. It really belonged in the bedroom, but we needed another lamp and it happened to find it's way there last year and hadn't moved.
We moved the desk that was by the front door over by the fireplace. I wanted to create some balance in that corner and I'm really liking the way it looks.
To replace where the desk was, we pulled out a side table we had stored upstairs.

I'd like to find a pair of lamps to flank each side of the mantle. The lamp on the right is from Goodwill and the lamp on the left is a hodge podge of Target base/ Walmart shade. I'd like to find a pair that's chunky, metallic and modern. I have some searching to do because we all know lamps aren't cheap.

And as a little crafty project, I changed up our coffee table tray. I was getting a little tired of the pictures, so I took them out and replaced them with some left over fabric from a past project.

before:

after:

Here's where all the bloggy magic happens:

It's my little comfy corner.

Stylish Blogger Award

2011-01-06T21:29:00.001-05:00

Hey everyone! I have some fun news to share with you. Yesterday I recieved an email from Lori over at Thrifty Decor Mom and she was so kind to pass along the Stylish Blog award to Southern Comfort! I am so honored! Lori is a wonderful inspiration for all kinds of projects, so you must pay her a visit soon. In order to recieve the award, I have to list some unknown facts about me, and then pass the award on to other wonderful blogs who deserve the award as well. So without further ado, here we go.

Little Known Facts:
1. I love ketchup. I mean, love, love ketchup. I will put it on most anything. If you want a list of weird things I put it on, let me know. Otherwise, I'll keep the gross factor wrapped up to only my dear husband.

2. Each evening John and I eat dinner on the couch watching episodes of Friends. We have them DVR'd during the day and unwind at night with a little Friends banter. Yes, eventually we'll eat at the table like normal people, but since we don't have kids yet, we'll stick to the couch.

3. When I get home from work each day the first thing I do is put on my pj's. Seriously. When I'm home, I'm in my sweats. If I take a few minutes to answer the door, it's because I'm trying to change clothes really fast so you think I'm normal.

4. Most of our projects are done on a whim. We really don't plan much out other than to say "one day we'll do that". It normally happens on a Friday or Saturday night at 9pm that we'll get busy tearing something out. What can I say? We live on the edge ;)

5. I am the hardest person to get out of bed each morning. I've been known to scratch, scream and even bite. Over the years I've dropped the scratching and the biting, but it's still pretty bad. It's John's least favorite time of day. Sometimes he'll send the dog in to do the dirty work so he doesn't have to.

6. I cannot sleep if my nose is cold or if my feet are hot. I will stick my feet in cold water before bed just so they're the right temperature.

7. After reading all these, I'm sure by now you're thinking I'm some sort of crazy person. Don't worry.. I'm wondering the same thing. Oh, and I don't like to drink milk.

I'm passing the blog award onto these ladies, because they inspire me every day.

April at Always Something

Allyson at Living Green Saving Green (my cousin!)

Megan at Honey We're Home

Melissa at Melissa's Heart and Home

Becky at Knock Off Decor

Kathleen at The Lushers

Kelly at Domestically Yours

Jess at Frugal with a Flourish

Jolie at Shopping Candy for My First Home

Grams at Grams

Erika at Love Journey Mission

Amy at Positively Splendid

Melissa at 320 Sycamore

Joan at For the Love of a House
Home Sweet Home Inspiration

In other news, I've got some really fun projects planned and some goodies for you too! Stay tuned!

Readers Vote!

2010-12-30T21:53:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year Everyone! I hope you've been enjoying the holidays with your friends and loved ones. We've been trying to keep things pretty simple around here. We had a wonderful Christmas spent together. This was our first (in 4 years!) of spending Christmas eve/ Day together. In the past we each went to our respective families to celebrate, which was fine when we were dating, but aftering spending our first married Christmas apart, we wanted to spend it together. And it was FABULOUS. Low key. Hot cocoa, sitting around the Christmas tree, spending time with the kiddo's. Perfect.

But other than just the holidays, we've been busy this year! At first, I wanted to do a round up of this year and pay tribute to each of our accomplished projects. But then I figured, you've already read about them, so why hash it? So I started thinkin. And I read other blogs to get inspiration. Then it came to me. I need to be asking YOU, my dear readers the questions about this year. What you liked. What you hated. And, what you want more of.

So, I pulled together another poll, for you. So I can know what you all like. And hate. And all the in-between. :) You can thank me later. I want for 2011 to be so much fun and filled with things you want to read about, not just my rantings. So, without further ado, here is the 2010 end-of-the-year poll.

And I want to thank each and every one of you for reading this here blog. It means so, so, so, much to me that not only do you read it, but you enjoy it. So, from the bottom of my heart, Thank YOU!

1. What is your age? You don't have to answer it if you don't want to, but it would be great to have a guide as to whom I'm talking to .. crickets.. umm.. anyone out there?

2. What sort of posts do you want to see more of? Big renovations? Before and Afters? Crafty projects you can do? Recipes?

3. Do you like it when I get technical and show you how we tackle projects? Like removing vanities, how to remove doors etc? Or do you just want results?

4. Do you like it when I post stories about us? Funny family happenings? Or would you rather it be all business and house oriented?

5. Do you have pets? Do you want me to feature your house, family or pets in my posts?

Again, I'd really appreciate it if I could get some feedback. Y'all are the reason I write, so I want to post what you want to read about.

Happy New Years Everyone!

I've Been Keeping a Secret from you

2010-12-22T22:14:00.000-05:00

I'll admit. I've been withholding information from you. We totally have a new surprise in our house and it's been a long time coming. Our early Christmas present comes in the form of another fuzzy. She's cute, cuddly, and super purrrfect! I'd like for you to meet the newest member of the Early family, Pepper.

Pepper has been a long time coming for us. We've been battling with Pickles for about a year now with personality "issues". I'd never call her a problem, but she was keeping us up at night. Scratching on our furniture, sitting outside our door crying incessently, and sitting on John batting at him as he slept. We hated having to put her upstairs at night, feeling like we'd ostrasized her from us. So after consulting many, many friends and our vet, the conclusion was Pickle was bored. She slept all day and wanted to play (with us) at night.

The good news was, there was a remedy. Get her a playmate. The best news is, we've lovingly had Pepper for over 2 weeks now and John and I have slept peacefully EVER SINCE we brought her home.

(sorry for the grainy pic. it's the only one I had)

Because we're such suckers for animals in need, we too, adopted Pepper. She was born on July 29th, making her about 4 months old. So from now on, we'll be adding another birthday party to the bunch :) She loves to cuddle and is absolutely captivated with computer screens. Seriously. I married an IT guy, who sits on the computer most nights with this itty-bitty 1 lb. kitten on his lap and while he works, she follows the cursor, mouse or any movement on the screen. Totally cute. See? Never did I think there was a kitty-geek out there.. until now. :)

The adjustment went really well. Much better than either of us thought. At first Pickle wasn't very excited about the new "addition". She shied away from her and if there was contact, there was a lot of hissing involved. Luckily, that only lasted about 2 days. Maggie could have cared less. She sniffed Pepper a bit and decided, "ok, another one". Pepper, having never met a dog, was very apprehensive of Maggie and would hiss (funniest thing I've ever seen is a baby kitty try and fluff up all big n' bad for a 70 lb. dog) and bat at her. After realizing Maggie could care less about her, they're all living peacefully.

again, sorry for the crap-tastic photo

I'm not typically a parent who dresses her pets, but this little jacket was too cute. And perfect for watching the snowfall. One of her favorite activities.

See? Too cute!

Unfortunately, now that we have 2 cats at home who like to play, and no one there during the day to supervise, the Christmas tree is taking a beating this year. Whoopsie.

Merry Christmas Everyone! I hope you all have a wonderful time celebrating with your families. I'll be spending lots of time with family and enjoying Christmas with my fuzzies. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a white Christmas and being snowed in with John. I'll be back next week!

A View from Outside

2010-12-18T23:54:00.000-05:00

Believe it or not, the outside of the house was the first to be decorated. John and I tackled this project the weekend after Thanksgiving. We figured we could keep the neighbors from thinking we're total slackers ;) And it really helps we've gotten several snow showers already this Christmas season. So the pictures are extra Christmas-y.

I used the same toparies from last year along with my ornament wreath.You can read all about how to make your own here.

I bought the toparies last year on black Friday (aka the worst shopping experience of my life) but I must confess, I'm not 100% happy with them. I wish they were a little fuller and fluffier. I can't get past the fact that when I look at them I think of toothpicks with lights. Maybe I can fluff them up myself, or should I just save my money to buy some really nice ones? I need your input on this one. But I digress...

Last year I had the idea of putting a christmas tree on one end of the porch. I stalked Craigslist until I found the perfect one. Then this fall I found a 7ft. prelit tree for 15 buckeroos. Awww yeah. I did a little happy dance for the entire evening when I picked it up. It's perfect. Yes, I realize the fake tree is outside and the real tree is inside, but that's just how we roll ;)

On the other end of the porch is a little black bench with some wrapped packages stacked on it.

Cute huh? I love how the red from the pillows picks up the colors from the packages and from the tree too. It's all matchy-matchy without looking matchy-matchy. Do you get what I mean?

This picture I just thought was pretty. Our street is pretty steep so not many people get out of the cul-de-sac when it snows/ices. It's so nice to have our "winter wonderland" a little longer than the rest of the neighborhood.

Do you think we did good this year? Do I need to add anything else? Maybe the tree is too much. Give me your thoughts. I'd love to hear what you've done to your house too!

Homemade Laundry Detergent

2010-12-13T21:30:00.000-05:00

I need to start this post with a huge Thank You. All the heart-felt emails, calls and comments have both John and I completely humbled and Thankful. We are so lucky to have each and every one of you in our lives. Your out-pouring of love has truly helped us both. Thank YOU!

Ok, now I can put the tissues away and get on to the fun stuff. :)

Ever since I read Sasha's post, over at Lemonade Makin Mama, on homemade laundry detergent I've been wanting to try it. I don't know why, but I was intrigued by it. Captivated. You can make your own? Really? And it works? My inner home-maker self took over from there. I HAD to try it.

Lucky for me, Sasha had done all the hard work. Researching whether to make liquid or powder, how much for each load etc. And her pictures are beautiful. She's genious, and fun, and a girl after my own heart. You must check her out. So here we go.

This past saturday night I went on a hunt for the 3 ingredients.

1 box of Borax (found in the laundry isle)

1 box of Arm and Hammer Laundry super washing soda/ washing powder(also found in the laundry isle. Not to be confused by Arm and Hammer Baking Soda or regular laundry detergent. Make sure the box says laundry washing soda. Ok? Got it? awesome.)

1 10 pk. of Ivory Soap Bars (I found mine in the bodywash/soap isle)

I want to say the total for these 3 items was around $12 buckeroos. Even more awesome-er.

So after gathering my items in my buggy and being on the verge of annoying with excitment (Yes, I know, it's a sickness to be this excited about laundry detergent). I skipped home and couldn'tgetinthedoorfastenoughtogetstarted. :) I'm pretty sure the cheese and butter had to be put away by John because I dropped the rest of the bags of groceries on the floor. Hehe.

So here goes.

The long-awaited recipe. And I don't blame you for not reading all the stuff leading up to this point. :)

Original Recipe

1 Cup Borax

1 Cup Washing Powder

1 Bar Ivory soap, Grated

Mix well with a wisk. Or your fingers, because I like getting my hands dirty.

For each load of laundry use 1 Tbsp. of powder (for a energy efficient model) Because we still yearn for one of those and still have top loaders, I use about 1/4 cup. Which is still waaaaay less than what I use when I buy the bottled stuff.

I bought a really pretty jar from Walmart to put it in. Because I'm an over acheiever. But you could easily use tupperware or anything with a lid.

But when I put in the recipe above I only filled about 1/8th of the jar. So I ended up quadruple-ing the recipe.

This stuff smells just like my Gram's laundry. I remember cuddling up in blankets when I was little and this is THE SMELL from those blankets. The Gram smell. I'm hooked. And just for extra goodness, it's also safer on the environment, and about $0.04 per load.

I'd say it's worth the 5 minutes of prep. I can get on board with that. And best of all, now I have a pretty jar sitting on my dryer and not that jug of bright blue/orange/green. It's the little ~~pretty~~ things that get me. Every. Single. Time.

In case your wondering, because I know I did, I still use my stain remover spray or bleach if I need it. This is just detergent and isn't a cure-all for all your laundry needs. I'm still researching that ;)

I do hope you'll try this recipe. I am just so excited to share it with you!

And the Angel Said Unto Her...

2010-12-09T14:46:00.001-05:00

It's Christmas. The holiday of Joy, of peace, of laughter, of magic. My favorite holiday of the year. As I grow older, each season is different. As a child, I can remember the excitement and the wonder of Christmas. Barely being able to sleep at night, being so excited about Santa, and Christmas lights, and magical trees, and family fun that I couldn't contain myself.

Growing up my parents tried very hard to instill in my siblings and I that Christmas is a season, not a day. Christmas is about celebration. About life. And about Jesus. Yes, the presents were looked forward to, but not a necessity for us. It was about family. About tradition. It was about baking cookies together for loved ones, wrapping gifts, singing happy tunes, family gatherings and giggling at the kids table. It was about celebrating Jesus.

Now that I'm an adult, I still adore the lights and I still yearn for the silly-goodness the holidays bring. But the older I get, the more the season means to me. People who were once a part of my life, aren't any longer. Grandparents are gone, but their memory lives on. Christmas is about gathering. About celebrating.

It's not about gifts anymore. It's about quality time with those you love. It's about food. love and laughter. It's about cuddling up close with a warm blanket and a warm cup of cocoa and being thankful for your blessings.

John and I have been through some very difficult times over the past month. We've had to make decisions about our family. About our values. About where God is taking us. We've discussed whether we're reaping or sowing. We've discussed if we're following God's plan. A lot of this weight has fallen on John's shoulders and I hate that for him. The holidays are to be fun and light. I can see he is struggling. I see it in his eyes. I see it in the way he carries himself. I see it with every long sigh, every forced laugh at something he used to always think was funny. I see the pain.

This year Christmas is so different. Because my sweet husband is struggling. We didn't even want to put up a tree. It was like it took too much effort. We aren't having a holiday party. We aren't having people over to see our decorations. So putting up a tree and all the decorations seemed fruitless. We did decide to buy a tree and put it up (at last, it happened last night) but we didn't even pull out all the ornaments. The tree only has the minimum about of lights on it. Everything seems so solumn.

I want to bring cheer back into our lives. I want to bring back the light. I want to enter into all the fabulous blog-y parties there are out there for holiday decorations, but I don't know. I don't know how to mend him. I don't know if it's worth it now to pull everything out, take pictures, edit, and post. I don't even know if enough people read this little blog to care. Now, Sure I can be there for John. I can be his best friend, and listen, talk and be his rock. I'm good at that. But I don't know how to fix broken. Is it time? Sleep? Prayer? I don't know, so I pray. I pray for him. Day and night. To find his path. To find his feet. To find his giggle box again.

I want to bake him all his favorite holiday goodies. I want to bring the cheer back into his eyes. But to be completely honest, he's beginning to bring me down. I thought to myself this morning on my drive to work, why should I do so much hard work when I'm not sure he'll enjoy it? It would be so much easier to "skip" a lot of the holiday preparation and not have to "worry" about it. I don't mention my beliefs much (or at all) on the blog, because I want this to be a place for people to come for inspiration about their home, and not have to sift through scripture. But today I feel so strongly about this I needed to say something. God smacked me. Hard. It was like he spoke right into my ear.

He said, "Elizabeth, of course you have to prepare! You have to prepare for Christmas because you are John's eyes this season. He may not have the drive to do it, but that means you have to drive for him. You are his advocate to bring Christmas back. Celebrate baby Jesus' birth. If you don't, who will?"

So today, I'm putting my Santa hat on and getting busy. Regardless of whether I "feel" like it or not. I have to. For God. For Jesus. And for John. After all, it's Christmas.

Peppermint Inspired Mantle

2010-12-01T22:41:00.000-05:00

All week my goal was to have the mantle decorated so I can participate in Layla's Mantle party over at her place, The Lettered Cottage.

Well, what-da-ya know, I'm late. Story of my life this week. But I *finally* have it done and I'm SO EXCITED!
Ever since I dreamed (yes, I really dreamed it) of red and white holiday decor I knew I had to do it! So here she is, all dressed up for Santa.

Isn't she cute!?! I love, love, love it!

Here are a few more pictures, just for fun :)

So glittery. I made the cones out of styrofoam from Michaels. I smeared them with glue and carefully poured glitter over them. It took a couple days for the red/white one because I had to do it in layers. I wish I took pictures of it, but I was in a hurry to get it done. I know, bad blogger.

The banner I made with my Cricut cutter. Looove.

See those branches in the photo below? I spent the afternoon wrangling branches from a tree in our backyard. Do you know how hard it is to break up branches and keep the dog from chewing them up? Hard. She's a fast little girl!

Once I got them together, I spray painted them white, then sprayed them with Santa Snow.

I like them on the mantle, and they definatley balance the decor, but I think they need something. Maybe small ornaments? Some small candy canes? I'd love to know what y'all think.

And just so you know, I do have the mantle done, but the rest of my house is a wreck! The fall decor is still sitting here:

It appears a tornado hit the coffee table. I will say, I'm loving re-reading the Chronicles of Narnia. Perfect Christmas books.

And My kitchen table looks like this:

But the mantle's done!

Hopefully we can keep the holiday decorations going and get the tree up soon :)
Stay tuned!

The Thanksgiving We'll Never Forget

2010-11-30T10:54:00.001-05:00

I know, I know, Thanksgiving was soo long ago with Christmas popping up everywhere, but I had to share this story with you. This year was a first for many things. Some good, some bad, some funny, and some things that just make you go "huh". And I swear, I can't make this stuff up.

It all started on Thanksgiving afternoon. John and I were to meet my family at my parents house for the most looked-forward-meal-of-the-year. And just to give you a little background of the evening, we were there along with: my sister, Annie, her hubby, there 2 dogs, and Annie's and classroom guinea pig. Then there was our Grandma (on Dad's side, who's not all "with it" these days if you know what I mean). And because mom is the most fabulous cook, and we love to have the house bursting at the seams with family, we also invited my Godparents, there 4 kids (whom are all grown now) and their 2 grandchildren, ages 2 and 5, and their Grandma was along too. Just to help you with that math,in total we had 15 adults, 2 kids, 4 dogs and a guinea pig.
Shew. The house was FULL!

Not long before dinner, Grandma #2 said she wasn't feeling well and went to the back of the house to lie down. The day before, she'd been released from the hospital for congestive heart failure because she didn't take her heart meds. Once she was lying down, she told us she hadn't taken them today either. Awesome. We feared tonight we'd be back in the hospital. Luckily, we had 3 nurses in the house who helped look after her.

Meanwhile, dinner is being prepared, stirred, plated and the house is bustling with laughter and music. Out of no where, Scout, one of Annie's dogs, lets out a yelp. We figure she's just gotten under someone's feet or one of the kids played too hard with her and all will be fine in a minute. Sure enough, things calmed down long enough to say the blessing.

We sit down for dinner and conversation ensues. We are all animal lovers at this house, so we naturally turn to watch the dogs play, talk about their personalities etc. Michaela, who works for a vet, calmly says "you know, Chris' dog is going through a false pregnancy at the moment".
We all stop.
Look at her.
Do what?
"Yes, Lexi, who hasn't been fixed,for some reason her body feels it's pregnant even though she's not.
The boys find her facinating right now."

Interresting. What do you say to that?

Our evening continues, the pregnancy comment easily forgotten minutes after it's said. Shoe-less kids running about playing, dogs barking at one another over the last piece of turkey, dishes and silverware clanking together. The sounds of happy and full bellies all around.

Another yelp from Scout, the 2 year old sitting beside her. Annie goes over to investigate. Here was Henry, pulling on Scouts poor nipples. He said it was because he pulled on Lexi's the other day. I swear I can't make this stuff up. It amazes me what boys find to play with, Poor dog was getting titty-twisted at Thanksgiving.

The evening winds down. Dessert is consumed with gusto. Mom's pecan and pumpkin pies are to die for, and didn't stand a chance. I expect Grandma #1 to want to head back to the nursing home at any minute. She typically doesn't want to stay for long after eating these days, and I'm more than happy to take her home. I begin getting my keys and purse together and sure enough the woman has disappeared. I go looking for her and find her in the back bedroom undressing herself to go to bed. She used to stay with Mom and Dad a couple of years ago before we got the nursing home things straightened out. I don't know if she was confused about where she was staying or what, but sure enough, she was determined to get nekkid and climb into bed. She reminds me a lot of the grandmaw on Raising Hope (if you haven't seen that show, you must. So funny!).
So we now have one Grandma laid up in the bed with a bad heart, a poor dog whose nipples are being twisted by a toddler, another confused Grandma trying to get nekkid, and a guinea pig who can't seem to catch a break from other dogs wanting to "sniff" her, all while trying to be thankful for this past year and our time spent together.

I know what you're thinking. This has got to be the end right? Nope. The blessings of the year continue into the next day.
The day after Thanksgiving is Chili day. For years our family has always fixed a HUGE pot of Chili for friends and family to come enjoy. It's casual, fun and a break from the turkey.
As I mentioned, we had a guinea pig along with us for the holiday weekend. I didn't get a chance to snuggle with him on Thanksgiving day with all the commotion, but Friday night I wanted my turn! Big mistake. Within 3 minutes of holding that little snuggler I broke out in the worst case of hives. My skin literally blistered as it spread. My eyes swelled shut, my lips grew to the size of plums and oh my goodness did I itch!
I ended up spending the rest of the evening at the urgent care clinic getting shot after shot of benadryl and steriods.

Today I'm feeling much better. The swelling has subsided completely, I do still itch a bit. I'm hopeful that will fade as the week progresses.

Thanksgiving this year was unforgetable, as John puts it. I am so Thankful for so many things this year. I am thankful to still have Grandmothers to celebrate life with, I am thankful for all the warm critters our family has been blessed with (even with allergic reactions). I am thankful for wonderful friends and family who, year after year, continue stay close and dear to us. I am thankful for our good health and a warm home. But I am most thankful for my husband. He is the most caring, thoughtful, wonderful caretaker of me when I'm feeling good, but even more so when I'm not. I don't know what I would do without him.

So from this crazy Thanksgiving to many, many more just like it. I am Thankful!

I've been busy working on our Christmas decorations around the house the past couple days, and I can't wait to share with you. Squeeee! Stay tuned!

Preparing for Thanksgiving Guests

2010-11-23T13:27:00.000-05:00

If you follow me on Facebook, you've known for a while I've been preparing for the crowd. Each year we celebrate Thanksgiving with John's family on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and make a weekend of family being in town. This is our third year hosting and just love having the house filled with family!

photo source

Let's face it, there's a lot to do to prepare for guests coming. Over time I've learned what works and what doesn't for extra company. Here, I have my own set of "must-do's" to be prepared for extra company. I figured we can all use a little extra help this time of year, so I wanted to share with you my "To-Do List" to prepare for company.

photo source

Wash the sheets on the guest bed. No one wants to sleep in dusty sheets. I try and wash mine about a week before (if I know ahead of time they're coming).
Dust and vacuum the bedroom and get it clean. Same goes for the guest bathroom.
Set out extra pillows. Everyone has their own taste for their pillows. I'm a soft 2 pillow person, John prefers a firm set. Allow your guests to be choosy, they may be away from home, but everyone wants a good night's sleep.
Place a water bottle by the bed. I try and keep extra water in the guest bedroom just in case of a sudden cough, or dry spell. There's nothing worse than having to tromp downstairs in the middle of the night for something so simple.
Make sure you have plenty of extra towels and blankets (in plain view, or let them know where they are) for guests. Make sure they know they're welcome to help themselves.

photo source

Check the lightbulbs in the lamps to be sure none are burnt out or flickering.
Stock up on toilet paper in the guest bath. There's nothing worse than not having extra when you need it! I keep mine in a small basket on the back of the toilet. That way there's no fumbling through cabinets and drawers trying to find it.
Leave a book or stack of magazines on the dresser or nightstand for entertainment to wind down at night.

Those are my Must-Do's for guests. If you have time, here are some other ideas: set out a bowl of chocolates for a little treat, change pictures in the frames of family/ friends visiting to make them feel more at home. Have travel bottles of shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste and floss in the bathroom in case they forgot anything.

So there you have it. My little list of things to make my guests feel a little more at-home and welcome when they come to visit.

November Love Continues

2010-11-22T11:09:00.000-05:00

Remember a couple of weeks ago when I mentioned my love for November in this post? I asked you do tell me your favorite Novmber memories, fun mentions and facts and I was bombarded with comments and emails galore!

One of my favorite bloggers, Jane from jayayacee blog, posted her favorite things about November and I just had to share her post with y'all. Jane is such a treat to read. She's a girl after my own heart with her crafts. Her knitting skills have me green with envy at all her amazing creations, not to mention she's a fabulous cook! I love browsing her recipes getting ideas for entertaining, dinner, and treats. You must pay her a visit. She's an absolute treat. :)

Here's her post:
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Thanksgiving Favorites

Elizabeth over at Southern Comfort has invited us all to share our Thanksgiving memories in her Thanksgiving Favorites post. Wait until you read hers ... I've been laughing for days!!!
I've been a big fan of Southern Comfort (the blog, not the whiskey) for a long time now. Elizabeth is fun to read, gives details on wonderful DIY home projects (the monogram in the picture frame is one I especially love), great recipes and stories about her sweetie pie Hubby and their adorable 4-legged children. As she says, "Pull up a chair and have a glass of sweet tea."

Here are my Thanksgiving Favorites ...
1. What does Thanksgiving mean to YOU this year?

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays -- everyone gathers together to share the best meal of the year, it's the prelude to Christmas but there are no gifts involved =D and it's Fall so the temperatures have cooled off here in Phoenix. I think that moment when we all sit down at the table together and I realize we've made it another year is just so sweet for me ... pure happiness!
2. What are you THANKFUL for?
When I hear about people losing their jobs and their homes and dealing with illnesses, I am just so grateful that we have gone through the last year without these personal trials.
3. Do you have a favorite dish that you MUST have for the big Turkey dinner?
The turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy are a given. A few years ago, I found a recipe for Cranberry-Sour Cherry Chutney that has become one of the favorites at our table. Everyone seriously raves about this dish and I plan to make it every year forever.

4. Do you have a favorite family TRADITION you do each year for Thanksgiving (big or small)?
We like to go around the table and say what we're especially grateful for. It's always nice to hear the special good things everyone has to say.
5. What do you love most about NOVEMBER?
Living in Phoenix with our yard full of palm trees, we don't get the dramatic color changes that cooler parts of the country do, but it is still one of my favorite things when I see a tree with gold and orange leaves on it. I also look forward to the craft fairs that start popping up all over and the fragrance of cinnamon when you walk into the craft stores.

6. What is your FAVORITE family/silly/fun memory from Thanksgiving in years' past?

I love cooking Thanksgiving dinner. Give me a 25-pound turkey to stuff and I'm happy. But as much as I love to cook, several years ago, when we were still running our stationery store, I hadn't been cooking much at all and especially not during the craziness of our retail holiday season. On Thanksgiving morning, I started pulling pots and pans out of the cupboard to assemble my cooking tools on the kitchen island. Our Youngest Daughter was living at home and one of her cats jumped up on a barstool and peeked strangely over the edge of the counter at me. I said to Hubby, "Why do you suppose this cat is looking at me like this?" He replied, "Because she's never seen you in the kitchen before." Ha ha! Actually, it makes me laugh every time I think of it!

Thanks, Elizabeth, and happy early Thanksgiving to you and yours!

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Jane, It's been a pleasure having you participate in the Sweet November fun! I've learned a lot from blogging, but one of my biggest lessons has been; you dont' have to see someone to be friends. I consider Jane to be one of my friends, even though we've never "met".

Front Porch Fail

2010-11-18T11:10:00.000-05:00

I have this dream about our front porch. When we bought our house the outside colors didn't really reflect our style. The exterior of our house is a butter-yellow, which is fine. But our faded blue shutters and doors need a little cleaning up. I knew it would end up on our project list at some point.
Here's what I envision:
A red glass door, that lets you see the sparkle of indoor lights at night. Black shutters that will clean up the exterior of the house from the faded blue ones we have now. A new, larger, black light fixture (as a nod to our shutters) with clear glass that sparkle at night. A bench with comfy pillows to sink into for a mug of hot cocoa and watch the kids play in the street. Swoon. It's my dream.

Well, so far this dream porch hasn't happened. I've tried. When my grandmother's house was cleaned out over the summer I found the perfect door. It was exactly the size we needed and it was 1/2 glass on top. Perfect. So my Dad dropped it off and it got some love. Primed, and painted the perfect color red. We were on our way. 3 coats of paint later it was time to hang. I literally jumped out of bed that Saturday morning, threw on my play clothes and grabbed my half-awake husband to help me. Poor guy. I didn't even let him eat first.

Needless to say, it was utter failure. The door didn't fit. You would have thought I'd lost my best friend. That was about a month ago. We are back at square one. I still need to find a new light fixture, paint the shutters (I already have the paint), find a new door, and buy more red paint (after I finished painting the door, I accidentally knocked the paint can off the banister and it spilled all over our bushes. Do you know how hard it is to get red paint off thorny bushes? Hard, I'll tell you. I still have scars). No laughing. I still get hell from John about it. He likes to tease me, in a nice way. A little jab at my attempt at my dream porch. I guess he's still upset I woke him up and made him help me without breakfast. Sigh.

So the door didn't work. It has been demoted to the back of the house. Where it will stay until I can find the time to donate it to Habitat for Humanity. So someone else can make their dream porch come true. Back to square one...

Thanksgiving Favorites

2010-11-05T13:33:00.001-04:00

Because November is such a sweet month, and in an effort to acknowledge it instead of getting so caught up in December happenings as I mentioned in this post, I've decided to challenge each of you.

Here are some fun questions about November and Thanksgiving happenings that I encourage each of you to answer. Some are family oriented, some are favorites of your own, some are just for giggles. I will also be forwarding them to other blogg-y friends to challenge their readers as well.

I can't wait to see what you all have to say about November!

1. What does Thanksgiving mean toYOU this year?

Thanksgiving means fellowship. I look forward to seeing old friends, family from all over, and being able to cook and enjoy the season with everyone. I am going to do my best not to get too caught up in whether the house is clean enough, or if we have enough food (which we always have leftovers), or stress over everything being perfect. I want to slow down enough to enjoy cooking with my family, eating with my family, and enjoying my family's company.

2. What are you THANKFUL for?

This year I am especially thankful for my family, my house and my job. Over the past several years we've all seen and heard of the devistation of the economy and most of us have been touched by it one way or another. This particular year, I am thankful for the love of friends and family, a dry (albiet messy at the moment) roof over my head, and a job to go to every day.

3. Do you have a favorite dish you MUST have for the big Turkey dinner?

I have to pick just one?!? Shoot. I should have thought this question through. Hmm. To me it wouldn't be Thanksgiving with the turkey, but I want everything with the turkey too (the dressing, rolls, cranberry sauce, broccoli casserole, corn pudding, sweet potatoes, oh, and pumpkin pie). Does that count? Sure it does. I made up the question. :)

4. Do you have a favorite family TRADITION you do each year for Thanksgiving (big or small)?

My favorite family tradition actually is the Friday after the turkey. My parents started this tradition when they were first married over (30 years ago). They were really close with their highschool/ college friends and since everyone is home for Thanksgiving, they decided each year tohave everyone over for "Chili Night". It was a great excuse for Mom to cook (something other than fixin's) and to have everyone over to enjoy the holiday for one last shebang. Everyone brings their favorite brew and a dessert or side to share. It has now become not only my parents tradition, but my siblings and our highschool and childhood friends tradition too. So each year, we see, catch up and enjoy not just family, but years worth of friends too!

5. What do you love most about NOVEMBER?

I love the transition from Fall to Winter. Today the weather is dreary, a steady cold rain. Leaves are falling from the trees and it's cold enough for a jacket. A perfect day to be inside with a fire.

6. What is your FAVORITE family/ silly/ fun memory from Thanksgiving in years' past?

Oh my. We've had some Griswald years people. Sure I could tell you all about the sappy, loving stories of family and playing with cousins in Grandma's basement for hours on end, or the year the string beans fell all over the kitchen floor when my brother tripped over the dog, but that wouldn't be near as entertaining. So let me tell you a story that I still can't believe to this day.

My mom is a nurse. She worked Labor and Delivery for 30 years. Shifts are sporadic and long hours are expected. This particular year, she had off. Thank goodness. But one of our dear friends didn't. Libby has a family of 4 children of her own, all grown now, and 2 sets of in-laws. Because Libby had to work that day, we all decided to have a huge family Thanksgiving with both families to take the stress off Libby having to cook/ clean and prepare for family after working and being on her feet for 12 + hours. It was going to be awesome.

Across the street from my parents live this couple. We'll call them Steve and Maria. They have 2 teenage children, but don't have a good marriage. They are both stubborn and have tempers. Maria tends to drink to "get away" from her troubles. She is loud and opinionated. He is quiet and reserved. They rarely have people over and I have yet to see Maria cook. You can see this is all adding up to be one big, happy family right?

So Thanksgiving day comes, we eat, we enjoy company, we eat some more. Dessert comes. Out of know-where Maria comes in the door. Holding a beer. Nothing new here (the beer that is, not the coming through the door unannounced). Followed quickly by her husband Steve. Apparently they had gotten in a arguement. Awesome. Both are drunk. Have I mentioned Libby's family is Mormon? No? Well they are.

They continue their argument in our living room. I can't even recall what they were arguing about. I think we were all still so stunned by their entrance we really weren't paying attention to the yelling. After about 20 minutes of trying to enterject ourselves to calm them both down Steve disappears. He returns a few minutes later with a bottle of Champagne he apparently found in my parents spare refrigerator from who-knows-when, and is swigging from it. Good Lord I can't make this stuff up.

Now that the yelling has stopped, we've separated the two and are trying to resemble what was a peaceful Thanksgiving. Libby's family stays for about another 20- 30 minutes to help clean up and such. Once they begin their goodbye's for the evening we figure Maria and Steve would get the hint.

To make a really long story short, we all end up going to bed and saying goodnight to them while they are still in our living room. Steve has passed out in the recliner with the bottle of champagne and Maria is sitting on the couch with her 6-pack (she did leave long enough to go grab more booze) reading gardening books.

We're not really sure what time they left. When we got up the next morning they were gone. They haven't mentioned that evening since. That was 6 years ago.

They are still Mom and Dad's neighbors.

What about you? Answer the questions (or just one or two) in the comments section. I can't wait to hear what you have to say!

Sweet November

2010-11-01T19:26:00.000-04:00

Poor November. I really feel sorry for this particular month. Sure, there's Thanksgiving and lots of food to look forward to, but for the most part, November is overlooked by it's fellow sidekicks. Let's delve further into this thought for a quick minute.

By the start of school in late August (or early September if you're lucky) all retailers have already started pulling out the pumpkins, goblins and fake spider rings. Gearing all of us up for all things spooky. For the most part, we overlook it until the weather *finally* makes a turn for the cooler. Which can seem like forever if you live in the south like us. But by the time we are ready for Fall and all the fun it brings, other holiday decor is slyly being brought into our favorite dollar spot and seasonal sections of stores. With it brings a certain anxiety and overwhelming feeling to us all. Seeing it forces us to think about a certain chubby, toy hauling, reindeer guiding, chimney sliding man. Makes us think about all the present wrapping (and buying), cooking, tree trimming, family get-togethers, decorating, church services, cleaning, baking and all the joys of the holidays.
With such a early reminder, it really doesn't leave a whole heck of a lot of time to think about one of the most spectacular Fall months. November.

I wish it wasn't so. I love this month of the year. I love the sweet smell of the leaves as they fall. I love the cloudy, cold weather. I love how I can ENJOY cooking and making our house smell like an oooey-gooey cinnamon bun without having to worry about who's coming over when, or if the bathroom is clean (and John really appreciates this, because if we're having company, I'm cooking, and he's cleaning.. it's how we work).

So for the next few weeks, you can just imagine that I'll be outside playing in the leaves with Maggie, baking pies, cookies and yummies to my little heart's content, and enjoying all that is November. At least until the family comes for Thanksgiving dinner, because right after they leave, you bet I'll be pulling all the Christmas bins from the attic and all hell will break loose.

Tomato Pie

2010-10-22T11:07:00.000-04:00

Do you ever have moments where you need something to take to a friend, a picnic, or a brunch and have no idea what?
I know I've been there.
This recipe will save the day. It's quick. It's easy. And it's delicious.

Tomato Pie

Using a deep dish pie pan. Makes 1 pie.

Ingredients:
3-4 medium or 1-2 large tomatoes peeled and sliced.
*-10 basil leaves
1/2 C. chopped scallions (using only the green part)
1. C. Mayonaise
1 C. Shredded mozarella chesse
1 C. Shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 Box rolled pie crust (found in refrigerator section. each box contains 2 pie crusts)

Bake 1 pie crust according to package directions.
Peel and slice tomatoes- let them drain.
Chop basil and scallions
When tomatoes are no longer draining, layer them in the cooked pie crust. Salt and Pepper to taste.
Spread basil and onion over tomatoes evenly.
Mix mayo and cheeses together. Spread evenly over tomatoes.
Place uncooked pie shell over pie and bake 30 mins @ 350 or until browned.

*If you're looking to be a little more ambitious, you can substitute the pre-made pie crusts for your own home made version. I would even venture into adding a little extra cheese on top of the crust, but you know, I'm an overachiever and lover of cheese.

I am a true believer in sharing recipes and wonderful food. That being said, I'm sorry I don't have a picture to go along with the recipe. But it's too good not to share, and I thought that was more important. :)

Have a wonderful weekend!

Fall Around the House

2010-10-19T21:25:00.004-04:00

Over the past few weeks I've really enjoyed getting the house looking like Fall. I must say, one of my favorite places to decorate is our mantle. I've never had a mantle to decorate until we moved into this house. I never get tired of playing with it. Last year we were in the midst of our wedding so all the decorating was put on hold until the Thank You notes were written and mailed. So finally, here's what I did for Fall this year.

I love how simple it is. Simple and warm. I threw some pillow covers over our existing pillows. This way I dont' have a ton of extra pillows everywhere, but I still get to change them out for the seasons.
This is the FIRST ever picture of this window on the blog. I hated it until a week ago when we cut down the size of the hardware and bought a new valance. Before this, it looked horrible. I had been trying to make my own valance, but it looked horrible. So I took it down. Then I tried to make a roman shade, but it looked worse. So it stayed up for about 4 months until I took it down. If you've come over and seen it, I apologize at how horrible it looked. See, I just got stuck. I didn't know what to do about this window. I didn't know what I was going for and I couldn't get out of my rutt. So the ugly stayed. It stayed until JCPenny had a sale 2 weeks ago. And my problem was solved with $12.00 on the debit card, free shipping and 4 days of patiently waiting. The ugly window is no more! It's been such an ordeal with this window.. like 15 + months or ordeal. sigh. I am so proud to be able to *finally* share it with you. And just so you know, I bought 2 valances that day. This one for a neutral color and a red one for the winter months. I can't wait to show you in a few weeks :) yes, christmas is around the corner. shhh. Don't tell John. He's likely to attack you at the mention of the "c" word right now. Until the Halloween candy is gone, it can not be mentioned in our house without a hissy-fit.

Anyways...

Now, beause I've never shown you the window, this little desk was never pictured either. My Dad refnished it and gave it to John and I as a christmas gift 2 years ago. I just love it. The lamp I found at Goodwill and recovered a drum shade with some muslin I had on hand. It's the perfect place for ~~Trick-or-Treat candy~~ our dessert bowl before all the kids come to eat steal it on the 31st.

Please ignore the box of crap under the desk. It's the Goodwill box. No judging.

Here's another look at the room from the viewpoint of the fireplace. Again, ignore the wreath on the staircase. I have run out of 3M command sheets to hang it on the door. It's there as a reminder for me ;) That's how I roll.

The table was decorated using a card a made at one of my stamping events. I just popped it into an old frame. The leaf I tore off from one of the garlands and put it in a frame too.

My other favorite place to decorate is our buffet in the kitchen. Here it is after a little Fall love.

Everything looks better under glass doesn't it?

Check out that awesome pumpkin cake my mom made! She's where I get my ~~wannabe~~ baking skills from.

I love this little sign. I can keep it up all season long. It's another fun decor item I made at stamping class.

What about your home? What have you done to bring fall in?

I'm linking up with the DIY Showoff's Fall Festival Linky Party. Check out all the entrys and awesome inspiration!

Stuck in a Bind

2010-10-08T13:51:00.000-04:00

Let me take y'all on a little journey with me. This is a journey of childhood, sibling rivelry, and things Mom didn't know.

It was the early 90's. I grew up in a ranch style house in a quiet neighborhood. Most of the houses were built in the 1960's. Large trees cover the roads, generous sized lots, and lots of hills. Kids were around to play with on the weekends and afternoons after school, but for the most part it was a quiet neighborhood in mid Raleigh. Our house was on a corner lot, and the back yard backed up to our elementary school. We had a pretty large yard. About 3/4 of an acre. Mom and Dad wanted us to have a large yard to play in, and we loved it. Large oak trees provided shade for the driveway and parts of the back yard. We had a swing set, sand box and a tire swing. Our black lab, Blackberry, would always romp with us. We had plenty of room to ride our bikes and run around like kids do. Later, it was also where our wedding reception was held.

Every morning my brother and I would get ready for school, grab our lunch boxes and walk up the sidewalk to school. He would always walk a few steps ahead of me as the 'leader'. I suppose this is what big brothers do, they lead. Younger siblings follow. He always had to be first.

Once my younger sister, Annie, was in Kindergarten, I took over the roll of the leader. Evan, moved on to better things in middle school. With our school being so close, it made after school events and activities so much easier to attend, for us and Mom and Dad.

On this particular fall evening, Mom and Dad needed to attend a parent-teacher conference for Annie. It was the beginning of the school year, and Annie was so excited to show Mom and Dad her desk, her classroom and show off her new school for them.
Because Annie was the child involved, the older kids stayed home. Knowing our parents were just a few feet away, we felt comfortable with them leaving us for an hour. Just to be on the safe side, Mom agreed to pay Evan to watch me and she paid me to be good. A win-win.

So off Annie, Mom and Dad went toodling down the sidewalk. I, like any other 9 year old, decided to see what Evan was doing. I will say this in secret, I loved to pester him. And because I like to pester him, we fought. A lot. We wrestled, hit, poked, and body-slammed each other until one of the other cries (it was usually me) or got hurt (again, usually me). Well, on this particular night, Evan wasn't having a bit of it. He warned me, I didn't listen (as usual). He man handled me into the kitchen and got me in one of the kitchen chairs.
Next thing I know, out comes the Duck-Tape. Evan was the neighborhood yard mower and always smelled of gasoline, exhaust, greas and oil. I don't know how he got his hands on Duck Tape that quickly. Probably had it hidden in his pants for this very moment.
He wraps me up so tight in that chair, I can't move. He leaves. I am left in the kitchen. Awesome.
I thought he was playing a game and I knew in a few minutes he would come back and get me and we would continue our 'rough housing' as Dad put it. He came back. But he came back with his socks. His sweaty, grass-covered, exhaust smelling, nasy BOY socks. My hands were tied. I had no way of blocking it. I was doomed. He stuffed those things IN my mouth. Me screaming and writhing the entire time. I can still taste them to this day. He stood over me so proud, like I was some kind of creation he had built. Smiling.

I didn't cry, in my head we were still playing a game. A mean game, but still a game. I sat there. I'm sure giving him the best 'sad' eyes I could muster. Then he turned and went into his bedroom. Crap. Now I'm stuck. Stuck, bound, gagging and beginning to panic a little. I got MAD.
Really, really, fuming, mad. I'm sure I was a sight. Mom's going to killlll him once she finds out what he's done! I'm so tattling on his butt when she comes home.
So I sit. And wait. And wait. And wait. Not the fun evening I envisioned. At. All.
After waiting for seemed like forever. It was proabably no more than 30 minutes in real time, he came back for me. He knew the others would be getting home any minute. Since he didn't want to be getting in any trouble (which I had total intentions of!) he let me go.

I ran to the bathroom, closed the door and brushed my teeth like they would fall out if I didn't. I flossed, used mouthwash, the works. Anything to get that nasty boy sock taste out! Once done, I came out to find Evan waiting for me in the hallway. Great. What now? Atomic wedgie? Swirly?
Quietly he came closer to me. I was ready to run if need-be. He simply said, "if you want to get paid, you won't say a word".
He had me. I wanted my money. Mom would know I had pestered him into putting me in that chair if I said what he did. Then I really wouldn't get my money. But he wouldn't either.
I calmly brushed past him and went to watch TV. I needed to think about this. Not 10 minutes later did Mom and Dad walk through the door.
I never said a word.

It wasn't until 7 years later did the truth come out about that night. We were sitting as a family for dinner and talking about how we used to beat each other up. Evan said, "remember when I Duck-Taped you to that chair and stuffed my dirty socks in your mouth and left you there? That was awesome".
I thought Mom was going to come out of her chair, cross the table and wring his neck. Never had I heard her squeal like that.
Dad just chuckled.
I sure am glad I didn't tell her.I enjoyed him tattling on himself.

1 Down

2010-10-05T11:48:00.000-04:00

We spent this past weekend re-living our wedding as it was our first anniversary together. I must say, we milked it for all it was worth (because we'll never have another 1st anniversary again). In true anniversary fashion, we decided to keep with the traditional gifts each year.. and this year was paper.

I didn't have much of a problem coming up with a gift for John, what with my creative-ness and "out of the box" thinking. But my poor engineer husband, who needs to have order, structure and straight-forward-ness had a harder time. So what did we end up doing and receiving?

I gave John a picture book of our wedding and pictures. I had it made through Picaboo, as I got a steal of a deal for it, a free hard-back book up to 20 pages (I got the deal sent to me through my email.. otherwise known as spam. But who can resist that kind of spam?). So each evening I sat on our couch while we watched TV and edited, copy & pasted, and clicked my evening away for about 2 weeks. John just thought I was playing on facebook the whole time ;) I added several extra pages to fit everything I wanted to. Lucky for me he LOVED it. Now we can tote around our picture book to family reunions, get-togethers and such instead of lugging our wedding albums with us. It will make a wonderful coffee table book, and conversation piece for the rest of our lives. Sentimental, thoughtful, and paper = success!

John did manage to give me a gift that I will hold dear to me the rest of my life. He surprised me with a basket. Not just your run-of-the-mill basket, but a basket filled with paper (a subtle nod to our requirement). After looking closer, he had printed out the menu to where we were to have dinner that night, as he had prepared reservations for us at The Angus Barn. It was rolled up and wrapped with ribbon. He had also printed (and cut out and backed with coordinating card stock) the movie listings for our local theater. Who knew my John could be so creative?!? (my card making must be rubbing off on him.. hehe). Along with the other paper items in there, were hand written love letters and poems (also cut out and backed with card stock) So sweet!

We spent the day around the house and doing some piddly things. Dinner was wonderful and so special. Because it was our anniversary, they gave us a celebratory 8 inch pound cake to take home. So yummy! We had some time to kill before the movie, so we went shopping a little and walked outside enjoying the cool fall weather. We chose to see a scary movie, because last year after our wedding (we had a honeymoon at home), we chose to see a creepy film, so we decided to keep the tradition.

Sunday night we went to dinner at my parents house and celebrated with family and friends. Mom had the top of our wedding cake waiting for us for dessert as she had frozen it for us. I'll admit, we were both really sceptical about how good our cake would be a year later. We had visions of freezer burnt icing and dry cake crumbles, but to our relief it was AWESOME! We all agreed it was better than on our wedding day!
So there you have it. Our first anniversary. Sentimental, traditional, and perfectly us. I plan on keeping the sweet poems and letters John wrote and framing them for a wall in our house. Do you have any anniversary stories or fun things you do each year? I can't wait to hear!

Hmm.. now what to do about year 2. Cotton. Ideas?

**as a side note, today, John and I *finally* booked our honeymoon. We'll be living it up in the Mexican Riviera early next year!**

How I Clean

2010-09-29T16:21:00.000-04:00

I know, it's dirty business, but someone around here has to do it. I get question after question in email, facebook and even in person of how I clean and what we use. So I figured I'd oblige and let y'all all in on my little secrets.
Today is a dreary day here in NC. The temperature is hovering around 70 degrees and it's rainy, rainy rainy. This is my favorite kind of day to pull out the basket of cleaning supplies and get down (and dirty, sorry, I had to!) and scrub the house. Since we're stuck inside for the most part anyway, you might as well go ahead and get something accomplished.

Most of the time I start in the kitchen. Our kitchen gets the brunt of the dirt. With 2 doors (one leading to the drive-way, the other to the back deck), 2 adults and 1 doggie, it gets a lot of dirt through there, regardless of how hard I try to teach Maggie to wipe her paws. You can read more about the daily-state of our kitchen here.

First of all:

I start with de-cluttering.

We always have mail to be sorted, drinking glasses and odds and ends to be tidied up daily. A little secret from me to you is: John absolutely HATES doing dishes. He won't even put them in the dishwasher. So I end up being our household de-clutter-er for the kitchen. I don't mind because I'm addicted to instant gratification. Putting dishes in the dishwasher instantly makes the room look cleaner. And we all like that.

Start from the TOP and move your way down.

Because working from the bottom up will only make your floors dirty as you go. If you work from the top and go down, all the dirt gets cleaned up from the floor last. Hooo-Rah! Wipe down your counters. I either use a dishcloth and my Martha Stewart All Purpose Cleaner from Home Depot. We've been really trying to move away from commercial cleaners and move to a more 'Earth friendly' option. So for Valentine's day this past year, John bought me the new line of Martha's organic cleaners. And I Loooooove them! I know, be jealous. My hubby can buy me cleaner for Valentines and his wife squeals with delight. He's a lucky man. :)

I clean the sink with a mixture of 1/4 Clorox (I know, not so earth friendly, but our sink gets Gaaarrose) I spray it in and let it sit while i work on the other counter tops.
For the stove-top (ours is flat) I used to clean using these cleaners, but I've found a much EASIER and 'Earth friendly' way of doing it. I get my dishcloth a little damp and sprinkle some Baking Soda on top. Scrub, scrub, scrub. Done. Way easier than making that paste with a Brillo pad etc. I try and do it every night after cooking, but sometimes it doesn't happen (like last night when I didn't want to miss a single second of Glee!). It doesn't seem to matter how gunk ed on the stuff gets either. It's always pretty easy to clean. Wooot!

As for the floors, this is my nemesis. Now that we have laminate, the dust bunnies just roll across the floor and get stuck in corners. I have a three-step process for our floors (to get really clean). If I'm just doing a quick clean up, it's only 1 step. I'll go through it with you.
First, I pull out the vacuum cleaner. It pulls up all the big stuff. Normally this is all I do for a quick clean. But for a more thorough cleaning, then I add the mop with the dry micro-fiber cloth. It pulls up all those itty-bitty bits of debris. Best of all, then I just throw it in the wash.
To mop the floor, I add another micro-fiber cloth to the mop and clean using Martha's organic floor cleaner. Doesn't take 5 minutes.
(I know you're wondering why I use 2 cloths for the floor. Why not just use the first one twice and be done? I tried that, and I found all it did was swoosh around the dirt across the floor when I got it damp and didn't really pick it up. Not cool.) Besides, once I'm done I throw both cloths in the wash and I'm all done for the week. :)

Dusting

I dust every week using a micro-fiber cloth (love them!). They pick up EVERYTHING. I used Swiffer's for the longest time, but I didn't like how wasteful they were. So I did some research and everyone was raving about microfiber cloths. So I switched, and I'm so glad I did. Along with my cloth I use Pledge multi-surface cleaner. I wish there was an organic option out there for dusting. Does anyone know of one?

Here are a few more tips for those of you who love cleaning like me:

I'm terrified of dust-mites so I was our sheets weekly. I also vacuum our mattress while the sheets are off.
I like to cut up a lemon and throw it down the garbage disposal with some ice to sharpen the blades and make it smell ~~good~~ better.
Magic erasers make getting off soap-scum sooo much easier in the bathroom. If you don't have a magic eraser, try using a dryer sheet. I've done it both ways and they both work great.
I hate ironing. But when I do get around to it, there's nothing more frustrating than getting that burnt on gunk on whatever your ironing. So I clean the plate with a little scrubbing action with Baking Soda and my magic eraser. Presto!
Speaking of ironing, don't fill your water reservoir with tap water. Fill it with filtered water and it will help keep the minerals from depositing on your clothes.
I set our pillows out in the sun on nice days. Kills bacteria, and gives them that "sun-drenched" smell.

**note: I prefer to clean the house by myself. I put on some good music and my sweats and get-to-it. I've found I clean more thoroughly than John (he's more of a one wipe and go kind of cleaner). So he helps me declutter and do laundry (he rocks at laundry) while I stick to the deep cleaning. **

So that's how we keep the newly-wed nest clean from week to week. Any suggestions you have for cleaning? I'd love to hear!

The Bathroom Files: The Toll it Took

2010-09-26T00:23:00.001-04:00

When I posted about our bathroom makeover taking a toll on both of us and our house it wasn't a joke. As with any renovation, things come up unexpectedly. We're level-headed enough to accept that. What we didn't estimate was that what seemed like a pretty straightforward project ended up being anything but.

We started this project on a Saturday night at 10pm on a whim. What can I say? We're night owls. After earlier that day we had stripped the wallpaper (which you can read all about here) I was prepared to shut the door and continue on it another weekend. At 10pm that night we both found ourselves looking for something to do, and low and behold, we got to work extracting the vanity (which you can read about here), toilet and removing the old floor. By 12:30 am we had pretty much removed all we could and still weren't sleepy. So we laid the new floor.

We purchased some peel-and-stick tiles from Lowe's several months back. They were being discontinued and the price went down from $2.99 sq/ft. to $0.22 sq/ft. Since this bathroom is our guest bath, it doesn't get a whole lot of use, and we knew a peel-and-stick would be perfect for the space. So for just over $6.00 we had a whole new floor. It was a breeze to install too. Very quick and painless. Since the tiles were 12x12 we decided to lay them in a brick pattern to open up the room a little. It looks fabulous.

Eveything seems to be going ok so far right? Yep.

The next day we installed the vanity. We purchased it from Home Depot back last Christmas when they put it on sale for $39 (Score!). So it patiently sat in the guest bedroom until we installed it. Very straight-forward. Even installing the new faucet (which we paid full price for because there are some things we just don't want to scimp on) was pretty simple.

But the toilet. Oh. The toilet. We purchased our new toilet from Home Depot. We bought the same "low-flow" model we have in our master and love. After getting our knowledge on (youtube and google video are awesome for DIYers) we felt pretty sure we knew what we needed to do. We had even purchased a new (better quality, according to our friends at Ace) wax ring. Project = FAIL. Water seeped out from around the base of the toilet. It wasn't bad, but there was no way we could use it yet. So we did more research, and bought ANOTHER wax ring (once you use it and squish it, apparently it's un-usable again, so the box said). Attempt #2 = FAIL. Same problem. Crap. Repeat. FAIL.

We'd been working on this toilet all. week. long. Each evening after work one of us would stop by the hardware store (they know us by name at this point I believe) while the other goes home and continues working onthe drywall project (from removing the door). Then we'd work on the toilet. By this point it was coming up on the next weekend. We had John's family coming in town to celebrate his birthday and we NEEDED to have the bathroom complete and useable (nothing like a timeline right?).
So Saturday morning rolls around and we think we've gotten everything pulled together. Hardware hung, walls painted, towels washed and hung, and FINALLY the toilet debacle has been conquered.

** I have no pictures of this step due to the frequency of removal and replacement, and frustration. Stupid toilet**
We enjoy a nice day with family. The bathroom is being used with no hiccups. Until that night. We notice water dripping into the living room while watching T.V. Ohmygodyou'vegottobekiddingme. We RUN upstairs and turn the water off at the source (again) John accidentally breaks the valve to the water source. Now we can't get the water to stop at all. We get it down to a drip, but a drip is still a drip with the toilet still leaking. No DIY video or youtube can help get us out of this one.

I get busy trying to find a plumber. On a Saturday. At 10pm. With luck, by midnight we are down $100 bucks, have 3 wet towels, 1 large, water stain on the living room ceiling, 2 grumpy homeowners, 1 drunk and pissed plumber for calling him during his Saturday night (but no one forced him to answer our call) we have 1 fully installed and useable toilet.

Here it is 3 weeks later. We still have yet to turn on the water upstairs in fear the toilet will leak again. We are still living with the water stain in the living room.

Home projects never end...

What we did learn is: We are NOT plumbers. We are fairly good at dry-walling though. We will be hiring a plumber for all our needs in the master bath redo.

2010-09-20T21:20:00.001-04:00

Last night while watching T.V. this happened:

This is the culprit:

We'll be picking up pea sized rocks for months. Great.

Gram and the Traffic Barrell

2010-09-16T14:20:00.000-04:00

I haven't ever mentioned Gram before on this dear blog. As I keep writing about our house, it only seems appropriate to mention Gram because she taught me so many of the things I need to know to keep our house running on a daily basis. Things like how to get a ketchup stain out of the couch (because this is where we eat dinner on a nightly basis.. no judging please), how to arrange the perfect flower arrangement, or how to keep voles from eating your bulbs and a slew of other fun (and helpful!) tid-bits for home ownership. She's quite the Martha Stewart in our family, and I'm so proud to follow in her footsteps. I'll see if I can't come up with a post of "what Gram taught me" sometime for y'all.

But for today, I need to introduce you to her. My mom's mom. She met my grandfather working in his CPA business back in the 1940's. From that moment on they were inseperable. From the country club, to golfing, hosting benefits and church festivities, they were quite the pair.

As long as I've known her she's always had the same gray bun, the same glasses, the same smile. But there's more to Gram than meets the eye. She's spunky, and gets more so with each passing year. When she used to drive (she doesn't very much anymore because of her eye-sight) she'd speed to her destination. Literally FLY in her Buik LaSabre down the street, neighbors shouting and shaking their heads at my Grams lack of speed limit acknowledgement. If she's at a traffic light for too long, explatives seep from her lips. Even on the way to church. When someone isn't driving fast enough for her, she'd pass them (sometimes with a certain finger in the air, in her words "politely waving my disapproval of their driving"). This embarrassed me beyond belief when I was a pre-teen.
This brings me to the topic of this post,
There is one particular story that is a family favorite. It comes up for every celebration and always gets a good laugh out of everyone.
Back several years ago (mid nineties) I got sick at school. I was in middle school at the time (7th grade to be exact) and needed a ride home. My mom worked night shift as a labor and delivery nurse at the time and she was home sleeping. Gram lives 2 blocks from my parents house. Very helpful for days like this. So I call Gram to come pick me up. She says she'll be there in just a minute.
So I walk out to the front of the school to be picked up. It should only take about 10 minutes for her to get to me. I wait. I wait. And I wait. 30 minutes later and still no Gram. I start to get worried. Bad things start going through my head. A wreck? Breakdown? It'd be my fault for having her come get me. But I continue to wait.
FINALLY. I see the blue Buick. Relief. She's ok. I get in the car and ask what took so long.
I get a giggle from Gram.
Oh no.
What did she do?
More giggling.

Giggle. GiggleGiggle.
Graaaam?

On the way to pick me up, she crossed a bridge (a large 4-lane) under construction. The lanes where marked by the big orange and white barrells. Gram got confused as to which was her lane. Swerved. Got back into the correct one. Continues driving.
The Buick begins making a terrible noise! A noise she'd never heard before. She continues to drive thinking maybe it will work itself out.

It gets worse.
I can only imagine the look of confusion and wonder on her face.
Knowing she's only about 3 miles from a gas station, she decides to ride it out and make it to the repair shop.
The noise continues. It sounds like horrible screeching. It doesn't seem to be the brakes as she comes to a traffic light. The noise disappears.
Oh good. The car fixed itself she thinks.
She's sitting there waiting on the light to change and the lady in the car next to her is waving at ther. Gram waves back. Thinking, oh, now nice of her to say "hello". She's a nice stranger.
The light changes.
Traffic begins to move. The noise begins again.
Crap.
It gets louder the faster she goes.
At this point, she's about 1/2 a mile from the gas station. She continues driving and feels relief knowing she made it.
A repair man comes to her window to see what the problem is. Gram explains how the car "just suddenly" started making this horrible noise."It wasn't doing it when I left the house", she says.
The car repair man looks at the car. Gives the front a good look, looks back at Gram.
Looks at the front again.
Looks at Gram.
Calls his buddy over for some assistance.
Buddy looks at the front of the car.
Both of them look at Gram.
The first repair man steps to the window, "Ma'am. We can fix it. Won't take but a minute."
"Oh good. I'm on my way to pick up my grand-daughter" Says Gram.
"Ma'am, can you put the car in reverse for me"? asks the repair man.
"Certainly".
As Gram reverses the car, the sound starts again. The front of the car lifts a little. Out pops one of those HUUUUGE orange and white barrells.
Complete silence from Gram.
Giggles from the repair men.
"Well how did that get there?!?!" yells Gram
Giggles from the repair men.

After figuring how how it happened and a good laugh, Gram was on her way. The noise, no longer.
She was telling me this story on the way home and as we passed back by the gas station, there was the barrell.
I'm sure the guys at the gas station got a good laugh that day. As did everyone else driving on Glenwood Avenue as this little old lady was driving down the highway (probably speeding) with a huge traffic barrell stuck under her front end.
Never will we let her live it down.

The Bathroom Files: Complete!

2010-09-09T21:45:00.001-04:00

We started with a old, out-dated bathroom and ended up with a beautiful room I am so proud to show off. Now don't think this project was all cake and ice cream.. it took a toll on both of us.. and our house. But more on that later. Let's see the results!

Bathroom Before:

After:

We replaced the vanity, toilet, light fixture, hardware, faucet, repainted, walled off the second doorway and installed a new floor.

I found this adorable medicine cabinet at Goodwill for $14.00

The mirror was my grandmothers. It was guilded gold when I recieved it, but with a little spraypaint magic, it came together.

Closer view of the details.

Remember how we talked about removing the extra door a couple posts ago? Accomplished! We now have a place for a towel bar where the door was. We painted 9" vertical stripes around the room using Martha Stewart paint from Home Depot in Talc and Bone colors (love her paint, goes one smooth, great finish, dries fast and NO VOC's). I just love the subtleness.

It is my new favorite room in the house. I'll do a post next on the cost and project breakdown. For now, just enjoy the prettiness. I am!

cuddling up for fall

2010-09-08T10:02:00.000-04:00

Last weekend was just amazing. It was a long weekend for us (yay!), and the weather couldn't have been more perfect. The temperatures brought that first true craving for fall; staying below 85 during the day and dipping into the 50s at night. We enjoyed crisp evening air, open windows, beautiful blue skies, and fell asleep to the music of the crickets lull-a-bye.
With this kind of weather, it makes me want to decorate the house for the fall season ahead.. but we aren't quiiiiiite there yet. The first thing I like to do to prepare for fall is bring in those fluffy blankets, overstuffed pillows to make myself (and our guests) yearn to cuddle up in bed just a little longer on those cold mornings.
Here are a few deals I found for bedding that absolutely fits the bill for the fall/winter season. All these can be found RIGHT NOW for under $100 (all prices listed are for queen sizes).

First on our list is this beautiful bedding set from Target. With it's traditional floral in warm earth colors it just yearns for someone to cuddle up in with a cup of cocoa and a good book. Don't you think so?

Target: Fieldcrest Duvet set in Rust $99.99

At first glance, I wasn't in love with this set, I admit. But the more I've looked at it the more I just love it! It's contemporary style paired with fun and whimsy squigglies make for a wonderful solution to winter bedding. I love that you can use this in a child's room or in a guest bedroom. Dress it up or down and you can't beat the price at only $39.99.. less for a twin bed.

Ikea 39.99

Doesn't this set just scream winter to you? Yes, I realize it's bamboo leaves, but to me it looks like birch trees in the snow on a cold winter afternoon. This set could easily pass you through from Fall to Spring, and hey, that just makes life easier. Simple, classic lines with a contemporary feel. Love.

overstock bamboo smoke $50.99

Who doesn't like Pottery Barn? I've never heard anyone say they didn't like their stuff. And who could resist this bedding set (on sale now!)? Classic bedding in creams, yellows, and soft brown. Dress it for fall with some cozy brown throws, add a splash of cranberry red for winter. This set could easily used year round too.

Pottery Barn Roman Stipe $70.99

This set took me a minute to like. At first I thought it looked too masculine, but cold is masculine, so why hide it?. The geometric shape reminded me of twigs, and twigs remind me of bare trees. Fall, Winter. Ahhh. The perfect solution for a boys room or a guest bedroom. Pair it with some leather furniture (because what's more masculine than wood and leather?), make it country-cozy or even dress it up with a cuddly chenille throw for some added softness.

West Elm pyramid duvet cover $99.00

And lastly, this fun geometric set from Walmart. Priced just right at only $35.99 could really spring a room into fall. I love the spice color, and even though it's very geometric, paired with the traditional furniture and accessories, it really brings the bedding into a traditional home for a more updated look.

(I'm sorry for the horrible picture, there is only one size picture to use, so I had to blow it up for you too see.)

Walmart Divatex Diamond Spice $35.99

So what do you think? Any you are just dying to have (my favorite is the Pottery Barn stripe, it's just so dang versitile!) Have you found any I should include? What are your thoughts on making the rooms in your house reflect the seasons?

The Long-Awaited Wallpaper Removal Post

2010-09-03T11:45:00.000-04:00

I've been teasing you for over a year now (according to this post) about how to remove wallpaper. Since we had SOO much wallpaper in this house to remove when we bought it I knew I was going to have to find the best way to do it.. fast.

When we first stared the bathroom makeover, I went ahead and took down one wall of wallpaper. I chose to only do one wall because I wanted to do this in stages. It makes a huge mess, so I figured by doing it a little at the time, would save my sanity.. and give me plenty of time to get this post pictured and absolutely perfect for y'all. Speed forward a day and several hours worth of errands and hubby has come along and done all the other walls for me.

Yay! ... oh wait. Dang it! I needed to wait to do it for the blog. He didn't take any pictures. Crap. Oh well. Maybe the wallpaper post will have to wait (yet again) until we redo the master bath (curses!).

That's when Hubby says, "there's still some behind the toilet that needs to come down."

Wonderful. A postage stamp worth of wallpaper to remove.

I think. Ok. I can make this work.

Honey, Grab the camera. We're doing the wallpaper removal post if it kills me!

So, finally, here's what we're working with:

Not so pretty. But, easy to do. Messy. But easy.

Step #1:

Find a corner (or area where you can get a grab a piece of the wallpaper) and pull.

This will pull off the 1st (outer) layer of your wallpaper. No need for chemicals or sprays yet. We'll get to that part. Pull it all off your walls. Everything. It will leave behind the lower layer of wallpaper. That's the messy part to remove.

After you've removed the top layer, grab a spray bottle. You're going to fill it 1/2 the way with fabric softener and the other 1/2 with water. Don't use harsh chemicals for this job. Fabric softener works like a charm and makes the room smell good too :)
We used this kind:

(sorry for the horrible picture of my bottle. we got carried away and started spraying before I realized I needed to take pictures of it (again, curses!)).

Spray, Spray, Spray. Soak it. Get it really wet. See? (Work in small portions. If the fabric softener dries on the backing it will make the glue harder to remove once it's re-wetted) Trust me. I know from experience.

Wait about 30 secs.

Using a paint scraper, scrape, scrape, scrape.

Comes right off.

Alright. We're getting somewhere.

Not bad right? It is messy. It does take some patience with pieces that are super glued down, but totally worth it. It's not hard. I promise.

Some extra tips:

If you still have areas of glue stuck on the walls once the wallpaper is off, you can get it off with a sponge and dishsoap. We had a few spots that required some scrubbing afterwards.
We found that using a metal paint scraper worked much better than a plastic one.
Take your time. Do one wall if that's all the time you have. It's better to do one wall and get it all done rather than do it all and it not be perfect.
Have trash bags ready. The paper really adds up quickly.

This really isn't a tip, but more a funny story:

When we were removing the wallpaper in our kitchen, we just piled all the paper in the center of the room to put in the trash later. It is a large room, and it just made more sense to us at the time. We started noticing this foul smell coming from the paper pile after a while. John went to investigate said smell and apparently while we were busy, Pickles (our cat) decided to use it as her litter box. She saw this large pile of paper on the floor and decided to claim it as her own. Never have we since piled the paper in the middle of the room. We are also very careful now at Christmas with wrapping paper to be sure we don't repeat history.

If you have any questions about removing your own wallpaper, feel free to contact us. Have you removed any wallpaper? Do you have any fun stories? We'd love to hear!

What I learned This Week

2010-09-01T13:34:00.000-04:00

1. No, I haven't died. At one point this week I wanted to.

2. Toilets should never be installed without proper supervision. I believe through trial and error, we installed, removed and re-installed our toilet 5 times before it was all said and done. The last attempt with a professional's help.

3. No matter how old I get, letters from old friends and pretty stationary in the mail are always fun.

4. I am older than my husband. When it's his birthday, it always makes me feel old. I keep hoping my birthday will cease and he can jump me by a few years. It can be done on board games.. why not in real life?

5. It is always hard to say good-bye to friends. Especially ones who follow their dreams. Even if I'm a little jealous of where their dreams take them.

6. I was reminded of how much I love (and miss) England and western Europe.

7. Cupcakes make up for everything.

8. It's not a good idea to wait until the day of your husbands birthday to buy his gifts. Even though he loved them. It was waaay stressful.

9. When water comes leaking through your living room from the upstairs bath, it's time to call a plumber. Even if it is 10pm on Saturday night. With company in town.

10. Never underestimate the power of the DVR.

11. Even when you don't feel like it, throwing the frisbee for the dog at 11pm on a weeknight still makes you feel good to see how happy they are when you play with them.

12. Don't trust a grumpy plumber with a toilet bowl full of water. It results in a gallon on your new floor.

13. Grumpy plumbers who accept your call have no right to be rude. But they still are. Even when they take all your money.

14. Concealer is a girls best friend.

15. I love our new bathroom.

16. Babies are amazing and can handle more than you think.

17. Never underestimate the perfect pregnancy, the delivery can be just the opposite.

18. Fall is beginning to appear, and makes me yearn for it's cool, crisp mornings and apple cider.

19. I love and miss living in the NC Mountains.

20. Family is everything.

The Bathroom Files: How to Remove a Bathroom Vanity

2010-08-25T23:16:00.001-04:00

As you are aware from our last post. We have decided to start a remodel of our upstairs bathroom. You can read THIS post to read all about why.

Today I want to teach y'all how to remove or replace an old vanity. It is easier than you think, and even disconnecting the water supply lines is nothing to be scared of. So let's get started.

Here is the {tiny} bathroom. More importantly, here is our vanity.

First, you'll need to grab a razor blade, box cutter or the like. You'll need this to cut the seal of silicone around the vanity top. Like this.

Once you cut the seal away from the wall, you can begin disconnecting your pipes.

*Caution: AT THIS STEP TURN OFF YOUR WATER*

See those two knobs below? The one on the right is your cold water supply and the one on the left is your hot water supply. Turn the knobs until the water is COMPLETELY off at the spigot. Consider this your warning. If you do not, you'll have a large flood after the next step.

After turning off your water (did your turn it off yet?.. ) you can begin separating the water supply lines from the source. We used a pair of vice grips for this step. You'll need to do it on both sides.

Sorry for the horrible pictures. We were using a flashlight to help get some light under there for John to see what he was doing. Flashlinghts and camera's don't mix very well. At least mine don't.

See? Pipes all disconnected.

Now we can dis-assemble.

Popping the top off. Literally, it's that easy.

Up it comes...

Out it goes.

Goodbye ugly vanity top (Well. Not really goodbye. It's still on our front porch. Because that's as far as John got with it. No, I'm not proud. No judging.)

Anyways. Now back to the project.

We are now left with the base.

In most vanities there is a big ole' hole in the back for all the plumbing to come through. Not in our case.

The stupid contractor who built our house roughed in all the plumbing and then added the vanity. Sounds good, looks good. Until you try and remove said vanity.

We had to cut ours out. Awesome.

After another trip to Lowes (only trip #2 for the day thankyouverymuch) for a jigsaw (because John secretly wanted a new toy and this was as good as an excuse he could have ever come up with) and $30 later we could cut out the dang thing.

The good old vanity didn't stand a chance to the Skil saw or the vice grips (which were really just for fun to see how many pieces John could get the vanity into).

And Voila. A vanity removed.

Have you ever removed a vanity? Had any plumbing woes? I'd love to hear!