Weekend in Review

No spray paint was involved and besides organizing them, no glue guns were used either. However, it was a busy weekend! In an effort to give a “holla!” to all the hard-working women out there (can you tell I’ve been listening to a lot of Beyonce this weekend?), I thought I’d share a little picture tour of my accomplishments.

Two kinds of people will appreciate this picture. 1. Anyone who lives in Michigan—no more boots! 2. Anyone who fights the daily war with shoes.

Just pretend this picture’s obvious. I washed rugs this weekend. I hate washing rugs. It’s a little disenchanting because now that means I have to tackle the floor underneath them, but at least that part is done.

I spent no less than three Beyonce songs (told ya) and two Justin Bieber songs (don’t judge) turning this…

into this… More to come on this one.

There was a lot of this over the weekend. Why, exactly, did we think it would be such a great idea to have some land?

When summerizing the deck, my husband found this adorable little bird’s nest.

Well, I guess little is a relative term here. It’s not the first time, though. Remember??

What are the kids doing while we’re slaving away? This. Don’t ask.

Hopefully your weekend was as productive, yet more normal than ours! Orrrr…maybe you’re like us and this is normal.

Royal Show and Share Day

Yes. I’m one of them. I’ll be getting up at 5am and watching the event of year (decade?). Then I will shoot a direct line of coffee into my veins to keep me from falling asleep at work.

It’s not something I follow on a daily basis, but it’s such an intriguing lifestyle, no? I can’t wait!

So…link up and give us crazy early risers something to check on while we tape our eyelids open!

I Don’t Know What to Title this Post.

For the first time in a while, my husband had the weekend off. So you know what that means, don’t you? I got nothing done. No spray painting, no hot gluing, and no decorating. Sorry.

In an effort to save face, I did do a couple of things. Namely, laundry. See? I’ve got baskets to prove it.

So here’s a dilemma. I washed a couple loads of whites, and these are all the socks I washed for my kids.

And here’s what I washed for myself. If you refer back to exhibit A (otherwise known as the first photo), you’ll notice that there are only three baskets for a 4-basket family. I don’t get a basket. Who needs a basket for a sock?

In addition to some laundry, I did end up decorating for Easter. Yes, that’s it. Don’t hate.

And lest we forget, I’m always cleaning up after this guy. This is how I found him yesterday morning. He finally found a dog bigger than him…and sat on him.

Between parent/teacher conferences, baseball and softball practices, and an out-of-town husband, posts may be harder to come by this week. Anyone have any Calgon?

An Ikea Virtual Shopping Trip

If you’re like me and are obsessed with shopping (and I know some of you are), you’ll enjoy this little Ikea shopping trip I’m taking you on! I came away with some awesome finds, and I left regretting some “why didn’t I just buy it” purchases. I’ll show you both!

First up? Some gallery rooms. If you’ve ever been to Ikea, you know this is where the magic happens. The inspiration and the sheer “Ikea makes that?” response is just too fun!

No husband? No kids? No dog? This would totally be my room. Throw a couple of colorful pillows in there, and I would move right in. 

My goal for this trip was to revamp my craft room. Needless to say, this room served as some fun inspiration. LOVE that craft desk, but it came out to be a little more than I wanted to spend.

I was drooling over this backsplash. And the farmhouse sink. Oh, and the in-cabinet lighting.    

My little point-and-shoot doesn’t do these rooms justice, but I loved the lighting in them. Layers of lighting…loved it.

Right now, why don’t we take a little lunch break? I’ll have the Swedish meatballs, please. Had it been appropriate, I would have licked my plate. That. good. Notice my partner in crime’s chocolate cake? Yummo!

Ok, ok. What’d I get? Well, I’ll tell ya what I didn’t get! These bad boys. What was I thinking? One piece of advice for you. If you ever go to Ikea, get frames. I don’t care if you don’t think you need them. Just get them.

Hello, McFly! I’m loving this gallery wall, and it would be so easy to do—IF I had bought the frames. Grr.

#1 on my list was to get a new sleek dresser for my craft room. Enter the Malm. I had planned on paying $179 and it was on sale for $99! Yahoony! Look at BFF’s smile. That quickly subsided when she had to help me load the boxes into the cart.

I also didn’t get this. I wanted it sooo badly (in white), but it didn’t fit my measurements. BFF was supposed to buy it, but she said “next time”. I hate that saying.

Well, BFF redeemed herself when she bought all this! (I know—the frames) She’s gonna do a little mudroom decorating soon, and these were just the pieces she needed. Can’t wait to show you.

Obviously, I walked out of there with a pretty good stash, but I didn’t take pictures of it. Weird. I’ll show you my favorite find tomorrow for SAS Day! It was the very last store of the day, and I just kind of stumbled on it. Isn’t that the best? See you tomorrow??

Shopping and a Contest

Well, I’ve done something I NEVER do. I entered a contest. And by “never”, I mean the last contest I entered was never ago. A very sweet reader (Hi, Jenn!) has more confidence in me than I do, and she thought I should enter. So I did.

I entered the bathroom (again, ‘cause Jenn told me to). Don’t worry—I haven’t forgotten about the cabinet tutorial. It’s on its way.

I also entered the dining room because the rules state that 5 rooms can be entered. I thought that was excessive, but 2 can’t hurt. Right? I’ve already linked you over there, and all you have to do is vote (hopefully positively). You can actually vote something down, but I think that’s mean. Perhaps this sensitivity is exactly the reason I’ve never entered a contest.

On another note, my BFF and I are taking a special Spring Break trip today. Can you tell where we’re going? I’ll give you a hint.

Wanna know where we’re going after that? Here’s another hint.

It is the equivalent to Christmas morning for me, and I look forward to this trip all year. Yes, all year. Doesn’t take much for me! I’ll be armed with coffee, a camera, cash, and companionship.

My shopping list is so extensive, I’m too embarrassed to even post it. Instead, I’ll give you a little picture tour of items I’m looking for. Ooh, it’s a guessing game!

So, while others are soaking up some rays and frolicking in the ocean for their break, I am quite content with my “shop-til-we-drop” day!  I’ll be back later with a full report!

Loss

I've often spoken of my dear grandparents and my unexplainable love for them. My grandmother passed away this morning, and I'm absolutely heartbroken.

I grew up living in the same neighborhood as them, and my childhood memories are filled with enough love to last lifetimes. My family is very small which undoubtedly makes us very close. 

I'll be taking a few days off to be with them--especially my dear grandfather who is now a widow after 65 years of unfaltering love.

If only we could all be so lucky, right?

SAS Day and “Normal”

I’m on mid-winter break this week, so I decided to gut the kids’ bedrooms. As I approached the rooms with my hazmat suit, I found it funny how differently they seem to play. Case in point--

He’s the “typical” boy with his arsenal of weapons and the ultimate Star Wars battle.

Then, there’s my daughter. She has her books lined up for her “students” and has written her very own Santa book.

No girl’s room is complete without a plethora of jewelry, some ultra-cute writing utensils, and the ever classic chick flick “Aquamarine”.

Of course, no cleaning day would be complete without finding this on her work desk.

Apparently, after a tough round of tic-tac-toe, a cup of jo just won’t take the edge off.  My little 8-year old has realized that she needed something just a little stronger. That can’t be normal, right? Do you find this stuff in your kids’ rooms?

SAS Day and a New Toy!

Oops. Apparently when I schedule a new post, I’m supposed to actually schedule the new post. Sorry it’s late!

I’m not sure how we did it, but we survived two weeks without a dryer. Actually, I know how we did it. We employed our friend’s dryer (Thank you, Sarah!), and we suggestively left three bags of laundry asked my mother-in-law if we could use her dryer while we were back home for a week.

If you remember some time ago, my washing machine broke, and my husband stared at it for days attempted to fix it. Since we bought a new washing machine, I’ve simply been waiting for my dryer to die as well. It died. Finally.

I quickly learned that the washer/dryer people like to change their machines quite often because it was impossible to buy the dryer that matched our rather new washer. I was beside myself. How could this be? I could NOT parade around town gloating about my new dryer knowing full-well that it did. not. match.

You see my concern yet? The handle. It’s like having a new eyeball inserted, and it’s the wrong color. It’s a cheekbone in only one cheek! It’s having one eyebrow waxed! The humanity! I digress. It would have cost $200 (which I was gladly ready to pay before my husband stepped in) to get the different door on it.

If you think anything like my husband, you fully understand that it is NOT a big deal. If you think anything like me, you know that one must continue saying, “You’re lucky to have a dryer. You’re lucky to have a dryer” to get to that point. Oh, and it’s not the same color. I’m just sayin’. Not a big deal or anything. :)

How ‘bout we take this post in another direction, and you show me what you’ve been doing lately? Perhaps you got one cheekbone inserted, and you’d like to share it with us? Let’s see!