Hallway & Some Befores

For pete's sake!  It's been a MONTH since I've been on here!  I feel like the page creaked when it loaded just now.  When I have to choose between family, work, my sanity or blogging...blogging gets kicked to the curb.

While my job can be demanding at times, I work with some pretty awesome people.  In fact, my hilarious friend & coworker, Leslie, sent me this card.  I got it in the mail today and LAUGHED my head off....

 The inside reads, "A bad day is all about perspective."

Classic.  She's the best & I don't know what I would do without her!

So let me show you the hallway.  We finished it a few weeks ago and I'm pretty happy with the new look.

Before:

I had already taken down pictures and started patching the walls.

After:

Ta-da!!!  Yes, it's a white hallway.  Seriously, though this was A LOT of work.  Brian installed all new trim, added crown molding and then I caulked & painted everything.  The devil is in the details and he whipped me on this one, but it was totally worth it!  

 Here it is at night with the light dimmed.....looooove it! 

 

Here's a view from the back of the hall. I have some blank frames hanging while I work out which pictures go where.  This will also motivate me to get enlargements finally made of vacation pictures.  I'm the worst about getting that kind of stuff done.

What I really like is that I can easily add more pictures and go bananas with frames from ceiling to floor, and it will totally work with my look here.

 Other side.

We used the slip-on corner pieces and I love how easy they are to install (or I should say Brian loved how easy they were to install.)

I flipped the attic cover and found this grooved wood.   Love it!

And yet, another angle.  It feels more open and brighter now. 

Before I run, let me show you really quick what I have going on for the next few days (and next couple of years)...

 I have this chest painted and will be putting the finishing touches on it sometime this weekend.  This one is going up for sale.

 I'm sanding the top of this coffee table and will stain it, then paint the legs. It's a nice solid piece.   

This is what's going to take a few years...my backyard rehab...

We had 2 Bradford Pear trees removed last week.  It's always hard for me to pull the trigger on trees but it had to be done.  (Bradford Pears are brittle and will split in half and make a mess.)  We have a lot of work to do but this was a good start.  Now that we're getting some good sun back here, we're going to relocate and expand our garden for next year.   

And I'm working on this..

  When the guys cut the trees down, they trashed my trumpet vine.  Not a big deal - it needed to be pruned anyway.  A little TLC and some paint and this will be ready to enjoy when the weather cools down some. 

Mom says that as long as you own a home you will never be finished.  And you know what? She's right!  Thanks for reading and I'll talk to you soon!

I'm linking to The Before & After Party at TDC,  Anything Goes at Type A.

Hugs-

A Feature at Type A!!

Super sweet Tammy from Type A featured me today!!! Hop on over to see my guest post AND there's a peek at the hallway.

Hugs and a good day to you!

Happy Day!

Today is a special anniversary for me and my husband.  We met exactly 6 years ago..so every July 14 we try to do something just a little special..nothing major, but something nice.  Usually we go to the restaurant where we had our 1st date.  It's a very charming place off a very cute square in a nearby town.

Well, this year I pulled out ALL the stops for Brian.  Do you want to see what I gave him for our special day?? 

A destroyed hallway that needs to be put back together!!!  JUST what he wanted...

  While he's doing the trim & molding...I'll be painting these frames (all for $25 at ReStore)..

and finish taping then paint the hall door..

So.....

He's VERY understanding of my wonky ways...one of the many, many reasons I adore him!

I'll leave you with some Norah Jones and one of our favorite songs.....

Lamp, Finds & a Few Changes!.

Hey kids!  I'm having movie night with Brian and it's a sobering one..The Company Men on Netflix. Pretty good but it's a huge dose of reality.  I prefer to live in lala-land, personally!

I'm making some changes to my blog by adding new pages and getting a little more organized.  It's going to be slipshod for a while, so bear with me.

My sister and her family came to town this past weekend for a visit and we did some junking (woo-hoo).  Here's what I snagged:
 

Picked up another globe for my son's room from an antique shop.  I'm going to paint the stand red.  He really likes his collection!

Now this one, I love!  I found this fixture at Habitat..it was $8.00 and 50% off..yep, $4.00!  I have already spruced it up and I can't wait to show you how it turned out.  We're going to hang it in the hallway that I'm working on now.  I have the walls patched, sanded, trim off..basically, it's a flipping mess!  Now I have to put it all back together - the fun part.

Moving on...remember this?

I'm using it in the den for a little pop of color.

Here is what I did with it...

 I used spray glue and covered the shade with the silk floral print and trimmed the rough edges with a cream ribbon.  This lamp looked like this not too long ago, but I didn't think the blue was working in this space, so I changed it up. I think the orange is MUCH better!

 Another little shot of color. I'm tickled with how the den is turning out. We still have to put up crown molding.  I added my own special touch to the carpet by knocking over my paint tray.  Brian says it looks like a flower...it happened in slow motion and it totally sucked eggs to clean up.  I'll include a shot of it in the "big reveal".

Here are a few of the pillows I made with the other fabric.  (I didn't have the heart to knock Olive out of her comfy spot.)

And you'll never, ever guess what else I'm doing....can you tell what this is?

It's a family of kitties that showed up in my backyard a few days ago!  Apparently, they got the tweet with my address and headed on over.  It's a mommy with her 4 babies.   This picture is taken from far away because they are super skiddish.  I'm not sure if they're totally feral but it's going to take some time to win them over. We are making arrangements to get mommy fixed before she finds herself in a 'family way' again, then the babies.  After all of that, they are going to need to be relocated. 

I'm finding a lot of great resources as I take in all these little guys and I'm going to be sharing them from now on on my Pet Rescue page.  Some of the groups I'm working with have chapters all over, so hopefully it will be useful for others that are stray magnets, like myself.  Please check it for updates.

I was watching the movie while writing this, so if part of this post makes no sense, you know why.

Talk to ya later! Hugs-

Stargazers, Catch Up & Hallway!

 If you were here, I would tell you that you MUST smell this beauty....

Stargazers are my favorite flower.  

I have a few that come back every year and this year they were huge!

 I didn't have to edit these pics. They had just bloomed & were perfect.

Ok, now on to this last week.. I'm not going to bore you with all the details, so here's the Reader's Digest version.

First of all..do you guys know what this is?

That's Goliath. It's an INSANE roller coaster at Six Flags.  

Rule #1, don't ride roller coasters when you're stopping for Pepto on the WAY TO Six Flags because you feel queasy.  Rule #2, LOOK at the roller coaster BEFORE you get on it.  I didn't do that. I just got in line behind my husband and hopped on...like an idiot.

 Sure, it was a thrill to feel my face smearing off as we zoomed along the track and down a 175 ft. drop at 70 mph, but was it worth it? You tell me, I got off the ride, went straight to the ladies' room & barfed.  I was a trooper though..we were at the park another 7 hours (SEVEN HOURS) after that, spending the last 2 hours soaking wet from all the water rides.  My conclusion, I think I'm getting too old for some of this.

The next highlight was a fierce storm that blew through July 4th.  Lightning knocked on my front door, came in and cooked my modem, seriously..it was FRIED.  So after many, many phone calls to AT&T and a delivery from UPS, we have a new modem and are up & running.  Being offline was strange, to say the least.  I didn't realize how much I rely on the internet; the upside is, I got a stupid amount of projects either finished or nearly finished (applause, applause).  The newest one started is my hallway...

 Kinda before:

 I took all of our pictures down, then remembered to take a picture.

 After I have worked my magic with spackle.  Since this is a small space, I'm going to do something that packs a punch.

I'm inspired by this:

                                       Coco&Kelley

 I'm not quite sure exactly how I'm going to paint the hall or the frames yet but I love LOVE this picture. This is beadboard all over but I think white paint will have a similar impact, as long as the details are done well.

I finally have stuff to share on the den but since I didn't want to do megapost, I thought I'd wait until tomorrow.  I'll talk to you later & it's good to be back online!!

Hugs,

I Am a Patriot

 
THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.

Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.  What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated.

 
Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right (not only to TAX) but "to BIND us in ALL CASES WHATSOEVER," and if being bound in that manner, is not slavery, then is there not such a thing as slavery upon earth. Even the expression is impious; for so unlimited a power can belong only to God.

- Thomas Paine, The Father of the American Revolution

It is the love of country that has lighted and that keeps glowing the holy fire of patriotism.

- J. Horace McFarland

God bless our country and our people on our nation's 235th year of independence!

How to age over night..and an armoire...

Intrigued on how to feel like you are 80 years old in the blink of an eye? Well, I won't leave you hanging in suspense...throw your back out. That'll do it! You can go from being an optimistic, active "go-getter" to being a flat out mess (not even a hot mess) unable to sit, stand or lay down without feeling like there's a hot axe in your back put there by the devil himself. That has been me off and on for the past week.

After carefully retracing my steps, I believe I figured out where I went wrong. It has something to do with this thing...

and thinking that I can move mountains (and monster furniture) by myself just because I own one. 

I am on the mend now and I've learned my lesson.  I've said this over and again, but I have to give Brian props for being the best husband.  I know, without a doubt, that he'll be there to wipe the drool off my chin when we're old and he won't even think I'm gross. *sigh*

Enough about my shenanigans, I finished the armoire that I mentioned in this post . 

Before:

 
Here it is newly painted and at home in the den.

I used some leftover chalk paint I had.  Since it dries out kinda fast, I  didn't want to waste any of that precious gold.  I used the ceiling paint color (a light gray) to add some details.

Ceramic knobs from Hobby Lobby.

This piece was simple but it also had a few very pretty little details.

 It tiered up on the top and I took advantage of all of those lines.

I don't rush trying to put together a vignette.  I kinda let it evolve; they just seem to turn out better for me that way.  The picture on the left was given to me by my Mom from her trip to Spain, she also gave me that fabulous old typewriter. It's the sentimental stuff I love most of all. I drew the flowers on the right myself.  

Here's a little closer look.  I drew this at work one day.  I doodle a lot and I guess it pays off sometimes.  Instant art!  Guess what my inspiration was?  My mousepad...it's a souvenir that my brother gave me with beautiful flowers on it.  I think I've stared at that mousepad for so long those flowers are burned in my psyche (I work some long hours at times).

Lastly, I added more of my accent color with old books. 

One more thing, I want to thank Stephanie Lynn at Under The Table & Dreaming for featuring my armoire!  She graciously hosts a fabulous linky party every Sunday.

Ok, well, since my glass of wine isn't going to drink itself on this rainy Friday night, I'm going to take off now. I hope you all enjoy the weekend and thank you so much for coming by. 

Hugs to you - 

 
I'm linking to: Funky Junk's SNS,  Miss Mustard Seed's FFF