kidding.  sortof. 

I do get weepy though.  That part is true.  It’s just that every single day as a mother of babies, you are waking up to crying, dealing with the highs and lows of day-to-day life, milking those moments of peace and trying to forget how many dirty clothes there really are, and through all that work and patience and exhaustion, there is pure and unadulterated joy.  It’s living in front of you.  creating more laundry.  and making your eyes fill and flood over.  It’s your children.  And as much as people may say that mother’s day is about celebrating moms…it’s equally about celebrating what made a mom…it’s remembering the children…our living breathing joy!

This year I had double that.  double the weeps.  double the joy.  double the highs.     

That photo is a perfect representation of my mothers day.  My sweet darling boyfriend made me breakfast in bed(room)…which Will ate and made me laugh when he told me in a tiger voice that I was ‘gorgeous’ and that he would share his food with me.   His funny personality is so big sometimes I wonder how it fits in his little body.  And of course, telling him “No…you are gorgeous!” is my favorite comeback.  And he squeels with delight.   

The day before (week before?) I had worked on a mother’s day event at our church.  We go to a hipster church.  That’s what I call it because there are men in skinny jeans on Sunday mornings and twinkle lights are hung everywhere.  Jesus loves hipsters too   I’m not cool enough for fedoras…so no offense hipsters.

And the event was great.  It was just for women…it didn’t matter if you had a mom there or were a mom or just wanted to be a mom…it was celebrating the fine ladies in a community.  I had helped out…which meant I did the photography, hosted three tables and helped cook the food, make corsages, and do setup and breakdown.  I was sortof like assistant to the gal who was in charge.  She’s now a new and fast friend…funny how working together will do that to ya.  I told Jeremy that next time I need a stunt double because I was beat afterwards.  It was a good beat.  Like when you get a deep tissue massage and are sore from it but feel so much less tense.  It took me all week to clean up the stuff I brought back home.  And when I say a week…I mean, there might be still some dirty dishes from it still in my sink.   (FUN PART: I recreated the tablesettings at home so I get to share them with you this week!)

The best part of Mothers day this year was two things.  One…I got to be with my mom.  She surprised me by being able to come to the brunch at church and between the crazy running-around moments, we got the chance to exchange face-to-face sentiments on how we feel through weepy eyes.  Ten years ago or so we did a whole lot of much louder word exchange so for us to come full circle to be able to say the most flowery compliments ever is kind of a miracle.  All you teenage girls reading this….your mama loves you more than you’ll ever know….and things eventually will get better…don’t lose hope.  Enough said about that. 

Two…we dedicated Weston. 

The baby dedication kinda snuck up on us.  I guess Jer and I were both thinking more about mothers day than baby dedication.  But just being able to spend a few quiet moments with family and church friends praying for Weston and his future was really really special. 

This is just a close up of that photo above.  It was the best one we got.  Jeremy is a chronic collar fixer.  And that lady is the gal who is in charge of the childrens ministry at our church.  Basically I am obsessed with her.  She is so down-to-earth and honest and sweet.  

That photo that they showed behind us was a recent one I snapped of Weston.  He’s a bonafide sitter-upper.  I love how squishy his body is…like one of those stress relievers…the ones that you have to squeeze repeatedly.

He’s trying to learn another new skill….the crawl.  He pushes really really hard and is able to get his knees under him but then he pops them out straight. 

Then he planks for a while…moves his feet back and forth but can’t seem to quite get brave enough to put the knees one in front of the other.  This is his concentration look….which includes blowing bubbles…

(this is quickly becoming a baby Weston update, huh?!)

So in addition to his new skills, he is starting solids.  Big (HUGE!) deal for me since I have loved breastfeeding this time around.  There is no guarantee I will ever have another baby that does breastfeeding so easily and I get emotional thinking about the end of it…it was just really such a redemptive experience for me as a mom.  I know we have more months to go before he stops nursing but it’s like the beginning of the end.  

::dear Lord, someone get me a tissue:: 

I feel like just yesterday someone else was just learning to sit up and getting his first rice cereal….

Soon enough, it’ll be this little man playing in alleys and talking in tiger voices…

Oh sweet mother of tears, make it stop! 

Let’s talk about something else.

How bout a quicky gift that is cheap and nice for moms out there.  Hostas.  In tiny baskets.  With washi tape flags.

I scored these at a local growers outlet for cheap.  The plants were $1 and the baskets were a quarter.  Perfect price for giving to those special moms in your life (or aunts, neighbors, teachers, etc) that help mother us along. 

Oh.  And I forgot to tell you the most embarrassing thing.  The church printed out the babies names in the sunday notes.  It had their names and birth dates and parents.  It was a nice little thing to put in Weston’s scrapbook.  I brought it home and Jeremy casually mentioned that they got his birth date wrong.  I was all like “WHAT?! no way.  I told them the 17th.  What did they put?”  And then Jeremy was like “the 17th?!  I thought he was born on the 18th!” and then I relentlessly made fun of him. 

Long story short….I don’t know my own son’s birthday.  the shame.

***sorry I was MIA this week…Jer was in Vegas for business so I was flying solo…then Weston decided to cut a tooth and Will caught a lovely stomach bug…needless to say, it’s been eventful   pray.  pray hard.

My sister is not a belly toucher.  She’s just not.  Never was…probably will never be one…not on others and not on herself.  I, however, am an obscene belly toucher.  I love bellies.  Baby optional  

So this week when I was shooting her maternity photos, it was really hard for me to not say “Grab that belly!” when her only request was “not a whole lotta belly grabbin’”.  In the end, I feel like this is a really good reference for newbie photographers who are shooting maternity and need some variety in their poses.  In regards to feel – every time you shoot someone…no matter if it’s your family or a complete stranger, you absolutely need to know what they love and what they don’t.  If they don’t know, then ask what feelings they want to have when they look at the pictures.  My sister wanted happy, bright and a little ethereal…with limited belly grabbin

Seriously…Norn is so beautiful.  It’s almost obscene.  So just forgive her now in your hearts.  Oh and the white thing in the background is the fabric knot garland was made from my wedding runner for her bridal shower and hung below the “LOVE BIRDS” sign I made for her.  I thought it would be perfect since the little love birds have a little chick on the way

We just trekked down to the woods behind our house to do these pics so nothing is fancy here.  All the green stuff is weeds

A lot of times my maternity girls ask to look thinner.  I understand.  Water weight, hormones, that extra bowl of ice cream and pickles….I’ve been there.  So a really good tip to make your subject look thinner is get above them.  Try your hardest to never get below their chin level…that way the camera sees them in a more flattering angle.   

Norn is a sweller and I think that we should capture the little details like her big-for-now ankles.  She doesn’t like them in their swollen state (what pregnant girl does, right?!) but I told her that in a few months when her little guy is here and she has her slender ankles again that she’ll want a picture of them.  If nothing else but to show that she suffered through a summer due date in Hotlanta.

This is my favorite I think.  I love the casual hand on the belly and the look in her eyes.  Plus, the lighting was fantastic in this spot.  And even the weird framing is kinda my jam.

Pure belly grabbin.  This is exactly the kinda thing she didn’t want in every single picture.  I liked this one because it’s all about the belly here…

This may look like an easy pose but it really was a task.  Basically it only works if you are wearing a maxi skirt….the one leg that is creating the angle is practically off the ground.  I love this pose because it draws the eye up to the belly.

The skirt is really great because it gives subjects something to touch…to hold…to keep their hands occupied while not grabbing the belly.

This pose is a great one too because so many pregnant girls stand like this naturally.  It looks very easy breezy covergirl

This next one is interesting to me…I didn’t mean to take it as part of the photos but in the end, I kinda love the way you can feel her move in it…like you get the fact that pregnancy isn’t all flowers and glowing. 

Of course, it definitely helps to have a little prop or two.  These prickly weeds had the cutest white flowers….they reminded me of the baby’s breath she used at her wedding, so I loved the fact we could work it in.

I could go on and on about the rest of the pics…but in general, I know that they speak a thousand words and people need photo references…so I’m not gonna explain each one.  Enjoy!

But let’s be honest…there are things in our house that fall in three different categories….need yesterday (ahem the exterior paint job and rotten wood!), need eventually (living room floor refinished), and would be nice.  $3K in free gorg flooring doesn’t really fall in the first two.  It’s a would be nice.    So after realizing that the next rooms to finish in our house (the dining room, the laundry room and Weston’s nursery) all don’t require hardwood floors, we asked if we could offer up this amazing prize to a reader. 

Obviously the awesome answer was yes. 

Here’s what is up for grabbies….

• PRIZE :  $3,000 credit to Impressions Hardwood Collection that can be used for flooring product + shipping 
• NUMBER OF WINNERS : (1) One
• TO ENTER : Enter by commenting on this post with “Impressions is Impressive!” and let’s talk ‘would be nice’….what is the item that falls into that category for you? flooring? new washer and dryer? new mixer? gatorade in the bra?
• PRIZE SHIPS :  Continental US
• NITTY GRITTY :  Impressions offers up the winner’s choice of flooring.  Since they have retailers across the Southeast, if you prefer to use your credit toward all product and pick up in person at one of the retail stores, you can actually purchase more flooring and not pay for freight.  If you live on the other side of the US, Impressions gives you the option to use some of your credit toward shipping so this sucker still remains free for you!  The winner will need to have the product shipped or picked up within 30 business days.  Only residents age 18+ of the U.S. are eligible to win.  Employees of the sponsor and members of their households, whether or not related, and immediate families (spouses, parents, siblings, children and each of their respective spouses regardless of where they reside) are not eligible to win.

GOOD LUCK!

DISCLAIMER:  Impressions Hardwood Collection and Bower Power take no responsibility for the installation, service or use of the this product.  All rules are subject to change without notice.

Goodbye goldie locks.  It’s not me….it was you.  The brownish orangey tone just wasn’t my cup of joe…errr…cup of Jer

Anything would be better in my book than the current finish…so it came next in our whirlwind dining room makeover.  The first thing I did was wipe it all down (it’s like a dust magnet and that is a big no-no when it comes to painting).  I then covered up the mirror part with FrogTape and brown paint paper so that it would be easy to clean up.

Time for painting…here’s what I used:  Zinsser Bulls Eye 123 Primer & Rustoleum Paint n Primer in one in white.  I love the Zinsser primer.  It’s like Taylor Swift…it really does stick to everything.  I feel like 32 sister  

I chose to go with the satin paint over the primer because I wanted the mirror to be more subtle than the effect that a gloss would give.  And yes, the Rustoleum has primer in it but I’ve found that a light dusting of the Zinsser primer helps things stick just a smidge better.      

A few coats later, I have one very white mirror.  So much better than the orange.

I went ahead and hung it up after removing the paper and tape…it immediately was more my style.

Doesn’t it look so much better against the dark gray?   I love the contrast. 

Oh and some folks were asking for a wide open shot of the dining room.  It’s in transition right now so please don’t think this is finished by any means.  I asked Jer to pull this old table out of storage (and we had to pick up the glass top from the friend he rented from 7 years ago!!).  I love the table but it’s obviously too small for this space for long term.  But it’s a nice stand-in till my new beauty arrives…aka…when we find the time to drive up to Chattanooga, rent a uhaul and bring it home

I think I might just go ahead and paint the base just for kicks.  And I need sconces.  I took out the old ones…they just weren’t screaming dining room to me. 

oh and ignore the too-short curtains.  I had three…the fourth curtain was left at the old house in the bathroom…and obviously they are high-watering it.  I just wanted to see how the dark brown looked.  The linen looks really good to me….it’s now just a waiting game till I can either go to Ikea to buy the longer ones or make my own. 

Another random note….I like the round pendant light in here with the round table but I’m unsure how it will look with the large rectangular table-to-be.  Anyone out there with a rectangular table and a round pendant?  If we don’t love it, I guess I could switch it out with the kitchen table light.  We’ll have to wait and see what looks best I guess.

So there you have it folks…new life in an old mirror.  I think Jer’s great aunt would be surprised to see how modern her mirror looks now…it definitely doesn’t look like it got a bad self-tan anymore, right?!

It’s here!  And I’m done!  Did you guys get your Pinterest Challenge projects done?  I always feel like I’m never finished on time.  Which is bad when you promise people that your post will be up around 10am.  Is it 10am yet?!  Okay…so if you are newish or just don’t pay much attention…this is Pinterest Challenge reveal day!  The day where we come back together after a week of looking through our thousands of pins and actually get the doing done.  Then we congregate back here and share.  It’s like therapy for Pinners Anonymous. 

SOoooo….here’s my inspiration for what I wanted to tackle this time around…

Yup.  That’s one honkin’ big letter.  (and a cool light fixture but that’s beside the point).  I love love love the oversized letters you can see on wall all over the place.  It’s just a great statement…great as in extra large AND awesome.  Both definitions

Anyhoo…dictionary aside….here is my finished project:

And can you believe it cost me only $7.25?!  Seriously.  It did.  I am still kinda shocked too. 

I used pickets from Home Depot that were knocked down to $1.25 each.  So that is 6 pickets.  That’s all I had to buy because I already had everything else.  Crazy.  Why didn’t I just do this sooner!?

Once I got them home (and the boys down for a nap), I went to work on the sanding.  Since the wood is pressure treated, it’s important to take certain precautions.  Like…don’t breathe in the dust (it’s key to wear a mask!)…and make sure you seal it or paint it before using it inside your home.  OH and if you are gonna use pressure treated wood, make sure it doesn’t get wet or come in contact with food or kids (who might decide to suck on a corner of the letter just for kicks).  Since ours is a piece that will get hung very high in Weston’s room…I think we are in the clear

Okay…so sand all the sides…. 

I love sanding sometimes.  Especially when the wood becomes alive again.  It definitely happened here…

Then I wanted my angles.  So I had to mark the bottom of one board to get started….

Then I simply cut three more just like it.

This is the part where I say…you figure it out.  Obviously a letter like W is full of cuts.  I’m not gonna explain each one.  That would be ridiculously boring.

After we cut out the letter itself, we cut boards to go around it…like an outline.  Angles were everywhere

At this point, I was wishing that we named our kid Larry.  Or Tyton (that name was actually a final three name for Weston – fun fact!). 
After making each cut, you wanna make sure to sand the edges because the pickets do splinter badly.

The original plan was to add lights.  Like a marquee sign. 

But once I marked the places for drilling and really thought about it, I got this sick dread in my stomach and knew that these extra cafe lights would need to find a different home.  There was just no way I wanted to drill holes into my over-sized consonant.

When it came time to assemble, we used a bit of wood glue and some brads. 

We nailed it all together in sections…each long piece in the center was boosted up with scrap 2×4′s so it got a really cool 3D effect. (see the marks where we were gonna put the lights?  whew!  So glad I didn’t go through with it!) 

After it was all assembled, it came time for the finish.   

The inside of the W got two coats of this semi-gloss paint ‘n primer in one.  It’s actually an exterior paint called DuraMax by Valspar and it was in my stash of extra paints (we had painted our front door this color – it’s ironically called Front Door Red).

Peeks in a red dress…every letter-lovin’-man’s dream

Then I decided to stain the outside my favorite stain color – Dark Walnut by Minwax.  I simply used a foam brush to wipe it on and a plastic-bagged hand to wipe it off.  I couldn’t find my plastic gloves

Then came sealing time.  A couple coats of this spray sealer and we were set.

After sufficient dry time, we moved it back inside and snapped a few with Weston.  This sucker is big.  Like a fortune 500 letter.  It eats vowels for breakfast.  Sorry…the cheese can not be helped.  Eventually it will go in Weston’s room….and then several years down the road, when the boys share a room, it’ll be in there for both of them.  (another fun fact…I shared a room with my sister and feel like having to share a room at some point in childhood is a great way to learn true life lessons.  Any sharers out there?!  Love it, hate it?  Kill your sibling?) 

I’m really excited to have this project done.  Those angles were a test of patience.  But I have big plans for Weston’s room and I can’t wait to see this bad boy hanging on the wall!

Now for the fun part!  The sharing! Remember my gorg co-hosts for the challenge?

• Emily from Sparkle meets Pop
• Renee from Red Bird Blue
• Sherry from Young House Love  

Hop on over and see their tackled projects! And now for some details before we get to see YOUR projects…Just as a reminder, Pinterest doesn’t know about this challenge (or endorse, sponsor, etc.)…they just simply supply the place for the awesome to gather.

Did you also conquer a project?  Did you blog about it?  I’d love to see it!  Here are the instructions if you are a linky-party newbie…

• click on the blue “Add Your Link” button at the bottom of this post – it has a blue frog head on it add a link to your PC project blog post in the url field (please do not link to your home page) for “name” write a short descriptive name for your project (e.g. “Industrial Sidetable”)
• pretty pretty please remember to link in the body of your post to the original source of the photo on Pinterest as well as back to me and this editions hosts above – it’s just a big ole fashioned linky love fest! Love you forever & thanks.
• If you’d rather just link over to your project in the comment section, feel free to do that – or even add a link to Facebook or a free photo sharing site like Flickr with your pics if you don’t have a blog (remember to set the gallery to public so we can all see it).

That’s it!  Hope you all have an oversized fun time getting something checked off that must-do list!

Now that she’s gotten a little older…she’s 39 now (you’re welcome mom!)…she can’t do quite as much.  She has bad feet, a bad knee, a bad shoulder.  The girl can still dig faster than a Playboy bunny around old rich men…but it’s hard on her. 

I say all this because I know most of you are the same as me.  You love your mamas.  You want other people to love them too.  And mom…I appreciate the fact that you didn’t let me become a hooker, or shave my head and discouraged me from spending any money on those N’Sync posters in the mall.  You da bomb dot mom.  (haha) 

The point of all this is that I was quite excited that Delta Faucet Company contacted me after posting about my mother’s basement countertop makeover.  Remember when her lackluster counters got made over into a high contrast black?  Here’s the before…      

and here’s the after…

It looked so much better but I still think that it has a little bit further to go.  Hence the photoshop of my vision below.  And since my mom had summer plans to host a missionary family down there for the summer, I knew that if she was gonna make any improvements, it would be now.  So when I shared the exciting news that Delta wanted to give her a free faucet to help finish the space, she was ecstatic.   Personally I feel like my mom deserves this thing after putting up with me for so many years.  Sure it’s just a faucet…but anytime you can,  I’m sure you would give freely to your own mama. 

Plus, anything would be an improvement over the standard ole builder grade one she had already.

Delta sent her the Pilar faucet in oil rubbed bronze.  It has Touch20 Technology which basically means you can tap it with your wrist or elbow or any other sticky-outtie body part and it turns on.  I call it Mike.  Because it’s magic

My brother is a plumber so he installed it for her.  He was even impressed by how nice and well made it was and joked that it was nicer than her upstairs kitchen faucet.  I guess like they say -  faucet others how you would like to be fauceted   They say that right?!

When I was looking at all her basement pictures, I decided to photoshop a little more.  I switched out the plain door for something a little more decorative.  (Mom do you like this idea?  Because I think I can do it for you if you do all the measurements! )

While I was at her house, I also thought this scene was blogworthy.  It was her mantle with her collection of mercury glass.

She’s picked up the pieces over time and I love the arrangement. 

My favorite is the hex piece on the far right in the one below.  Mom….I hope you remember that when you die   Put it in the will…I also want Dad when you’re gone…write that down.

Disclaimer:  Delta Faucet Company provided the faucet for my mother’s basement but did not ask for a review or even a mention of it in a post.  I just like things that turn on when you touch them…that sounds dirty…but believe me, this faucet is all about keeping you clean

I decided to poll eight other bloggers (who I ADORE!) and ask them all the same question about what they see as the next trend they see in the world of design, home decor and DIY.  The first edition was all about patterns.  If chevron was the pattern trend of 2012….what is the next pattern trend?  Here’s what they said…

Visit Nicole at Making It Lovely by clicking HERE!  (1) (2) (3)

Visit Dana at House Tweaking by clicking HERE! (1) (2) (3)

Visit Layla at The Lettered Cottage by clicking HERE! (1) (2) (3)

Visit Ashley at 7th House on the Left by clicking HERE! (1) (2) (3)

Visit Jen at I Heart Organizing by clicking HERE! (1) (2) (3)

Visit Mandi at Vintage Revivals by clicking HERE! (1) (2) (3)

Visit Kate at Centsational Girl by clicking HERE! (1) (2) (3)

Visit Sherry at Young House Love by clicking HERE! (1) (2) (3)

(1) (2) (3)

What do you think is the next pattern trend?  Dots?  Hex?  Painterly abstract?  Mustaches?  I’d love to hear!

**all product sources are linked with the number from left to right below the images

I didn’t edit these.  I didn’t have my real camera.  This is easy blogging.  Like back in the day before the word “branding” and “media kit” and “SEO” entered my blog world.  Ahhh…the good ole days.   Or should I say….the lazy ole days   For all you new-to-blogs people….photos used to be optional on blogs.  And tiny if ever used.  I’m a champion squinter now.  Mom, you would have never survived blogdom.

Anyhoo….I found this really ugly plate.  I think someone at a yard sale gave it to me as a gift.  Does that happen to you?  That happens to me a lot.  I must attract ugly plates.  SOoo..I decided to paint it for fun.    

I was really close to just tossing it in the goodwill pile but then I remembered a stash of all the other random plates that have followed me home.  I pulled them all out and decided to put them in the basement. 

Here they are in the little basement dining room.  I call it that but really it’s only a dining room because I put our old dining room table in there.  We’ve never eaten down there.  It’s great for storage though…of my old ugly free plates…because according to Martha Stewart…everything needs a place :)  My mom told me the other day that it would be sufficient for her when she moves in.  I said “Sure mom!  You and Dad don’t even need to move your stuff!”  

Her reply?

“Oh Daddy will be dead.  I’ll be coming alone.”

Gotta love a lady that plans ahead.  Like twenty years.     

So now that this post has been sufficiently random and terribly illustrated….anyone wanna share what you do with random stuff people give you?  I have a sickness that doesn’t allow me to get rid of stuff.  Especially gifts.  Even if said gifts were regifted and I know it.  They were still special.  Or maybe that’s just me…I’m the special one

But that’s not the secret room that I’m talking about.  I’m talking about the dining room.  I’ll explain.  Here’s what it started off like, right…   

and we sprayed the trim and painted the ceiling…

Then came time for paint!  I knew I wanted to go dark.  REALLY dark.  I didn’t know if it was gonna be brown or navy or dark gray…

but in the end, the dark dark gray by Benjamin Moore called SECRET was the winner.  Oh and I do like to try it on all the walls to see how it looks in different light.  It’s good to test it like that because there is always that color that has undertones that might come out in the bright area or might be darker than you like in a corner.

It took me two coats (FULLY MIXING THE CANS!  because heaven knows nobody wants streaks to happen again.) but in the end, it was exactly what I wanted.

It’s amazing how much it pops out against the white. 

I think that in a space that has white halfway up the wall and a lot of white trim work can sport a really dark color easily.  It’s probably the safest space to put a dark color in. 

And some folks were asking about my high vents…I paint them.  I just paint them whatever color the wall is.  It helps them disappear.

This is the view back into the foyer and the staircase and reading room. 

Then came time for moving back in.  I flexed the girl power muscles and did it all myself.  Quick tip…turn FLOR tiles upside down and use them as sliders.  They work awesome!  

This room is definitely a work in progress.  I need a recovery drink though…something loaded with protein after that furniture moving

So now that you have seen my secret room…I wanna hear about yours…anyone with a fantasy secret room?  Dish.

Our very first Spring edition of the Pinterest Challenge has arrived!  Get excited!  Turn yourself into a cat!

That was weird.

I’m not even a full fledged cat person.  Or am I? 

Okay.  So considering this is a post that is just like the other three we do each year to announce the Pinterest Challenge, I figured it was time for a little weird.  Plus…there is just no possible way to compete with the cuteness of the last announcement of the Pinterest Challenge. 

BUT for the sake of those who are new and need an explanation, I will go ahead and do just that.  Those of you who know what’s up can just enjoy me zombie-fied….

(hollah walking dead!)

Here’s how it’s gonna work….

The Pinterest Challenge is really REALLY simple.  Basically it’s just a call to action.  We all pin-pin…so now it’s time to DO DO.  (wait that sounds wrong.  unless you gotta.)   Here’s some of the details on what we are doing…

• Pick your Pinspiration project. Do your own spin. Blog about it. Celebrate!
• In your blog post, we ask pretty please for everyone to share the link love! Link to the Pinterest item, the ORIGINAL source of the inspiration photo on Pinterest, and it would be soo nice if you also linked to the four Pinterest Challenge hosts below (you have no idea how much we appreciate the linkage love too!)
• Linky Party at the Bower House! Each host has the option to linky party – so if you blogged about your project, link up with us too so that we can all see your completed projects and we can share it to our readers.
• Have fun! No matter what the project is – it can be small, big, super-sized, seasonal, decorative, cooking, crafty – anything goes…just as long as it “Pinned then Spinned” you can consider us fans!

And now to introduce you to the other beautiful non-zombie cohosts…

• Emily from Sparkle meets Pop
• Renee from Red Bird Blue
• Sherry from Young House Love

So go get doing!  And like always, Pinterest doesn’t know me.  The zombie or cat version either.  Although I am sure they would be interested in sponsoring me once they see this:

C’mon Pinterest.  Everybody loves James Cameron. 

Neytima out.

p.s.  turn yourself into a cat here.  a zombie here.  and an oversized blue avatar here.

*************UPDATE:  Oops!  Forgot to put the date!  We will come back in one week on Wednesday May 8th to share our final projects!  Can’t wait to see what you come up with!  

Jeremy and I are dreaming of the day when we buy more leather.  I need more hide in my life.  These spectacular leather chairs came in at $988 which is no small chunk of change but they look like they will last a lifetime.

I was drawn to the industrial furniture like this island/cart.  At $500 it doesn’t come off as cheap but you would be hardpressed to DIY this sucker.

Another wheeled option would be this two-tier cart.  Perfect for extra storage and would clean up in a snap!

Oh and the tables!  The tables are our absolute favorite.  Every now and again they will have a new shipment and we lay down our upper halves on each one.  I’m not kidding. 

I love love love this chunky legged table – it was marked down to $1200 but the Restoration Hardware version was over $2K so it is definitely a savings if this was the look you loved.

This time I was crazy about this one.  It has no seams on the top which is AMAZING for eliminating those crumbs that get stuck in the cracks of wood tables and it was just rustic enough to speak to the country girl in me.  Plus it was the perfect matte gray brown…

I loved this tall bar height table with metal legs but I just don’t have a spot for it.  The price was $400 which I think is fair. 

I was also obsessed with these chairs.  If they had a set of six I would have carried them home on my back.

Jer and I also considered these gray chairs for the dining room…I love the straight legs and the perfect sloping arms.

There was also matching settee…which would look amazing at the end of a bed…(I drooled all over that tufted ottoman too!)

And the matching bed with tufted headboard.  So swanky

The store also carries a bunch of different stuff…like these colorful and intricate console tables…

and a variety of mirrors like this little stacked crosscut wood one (which I think would be amazing to DIY!)…

and this driftwood one that was so huge they didn’t have a spot to hang it. 

One of my favorites was this round framed one.  Even more than the mirror I love the reflection.  Apparently Weston just smiles at anyone passing by…

We like to walk the entire store…including the art aisles…these $29 frames were about three feet high which is a decent deal if you like the art because it comes ready to hang. 

And these ship prints in the warm wood frames were my jam.  It took everything in me not to take two home…

The variety extended beyond butterflies…

to fish…and chalkboard frames.  The big ones were only $39 which is about how much all the materials would cost you.

Or maybe masks are your thing?  Well, you and Jim Carey could find one here…

We explored the vast number of rugs….(which something to note…if you see a good deal for something you love…buy it now!  Last time I was there I was thisclose to buying a cowhide rug for under $100 and now they are back up to $189 and didn’t have the color I liked…so lesson learned!)

This visit they had a bunch of options…

these runners were colorful and under $100…

And these oversized runners were a rare find…I loved the worn bits.  Most just said Turkish rugs…so it definitely required some digging.

In the lighting section, we looked for something to go in Weston’s future room…no luck this time but I wouldn’t be surprised if next time was the winner.

I loved this one for over a  kitchen peninsula…

Jeremy liked this barrel inspired version…

This one was close to coming home with us…but we had limited room so I decided to pass.

Over near the lighting they had a bunch of natural wood furniture…I especially liked this stump coffee table.  Soo textural and cool.  Definitely a one-of-a-kind piece. 

I didn’t snap a lot of the outdoor furniture (probably because we aren’t looking since we got a bunch of outdoor stuff last year!) but this hanging egg chair was too cool to not photograph.

If I could get married all over again, I would fill the forest with these lanterns and then walk down my foggy pinestraw lined aisle to my boyfriend.  It would be amazing.   

Southeastern Salvage also has a bunch of random stuff…like hardware, petrified stone sinks, doors, tile and carpet.   

And onyx eggs.  I regret not grabbing a couple.  I don’t know why but I want some.  My mom has some of these.  It must be in my blood.

The boys both fell asleep in the stroller and buggy respectively….so we had plenty of time to discuss whether we really wanted to splurge on a table.   

This one is the one in question….the solid top one that could fit eight. 

In the end, Jeremy said that even though it would be possible to build, it’s not probable that he would have the time to do another table (he built the gigantic outdoor one and I think Jer thrives on variety)…

We also got this pillow cover and a ceiling medallion for a little craft project I have planned.  Oh and Jeremy found a car mat.  It was random.  But useful. 

So that was our little shopping adventure….what have yall been buying lately?  Any dining room tables or ethnic masks or industrial stuff?

(yes, Weston’s eyes are officially blue.  I am beyond thrilled.)

this was another…

Both were taken at Jeremy’s hometown when we went to visit for Will’s birthday.  It was such a fun weekend.  Nothing compares to spending time with family.  Well…maybe matching shirts and navy and white stripes with barefoot tootsies.

We actually did four birthday celebrations for Will.  One with our Chattanooga family…one with my family….one with friends…and one just our little family.  He now thinks that every time we have a meal that it requires candles and a song and special treats.  I may have to rethink our birthday celebration situation.

Grammy did a Thomas train cake for Will.  He loved it.  Oh heck…we all did…it’s cake afterall  

We also got to see some cousins and their cute little baby girls.  It gave me the baby fever all over again.  I love my boys but ohmygarshthemgirls….I just know in my heart of hearts that I am meant to have a baby girl one day. 

Weston’s face cracks me up here.  I think he was smelling something.  Let’s not name who…because they are ladies

Weston got some Grammy time…

while I snuck outside and snapped a few of this pretty girl and her mama…

Okay…so this one is straight outta the camera….I feel like it might be one of those ones that people look at later on and say that she looks exactly the same even after she grows up.  Do you have one of those?  I think I have a few that I look just mini…and less wrinkly.

Will got to spend the entire time with his cousin Asher.  This kid is hilarious and so cute it kills me.  He’s the closest thing to Will in our family in age so this was really a treat. 

Will and Asher will definitely be doing this photo again in years to come.  I will force them.  And if that fails, I will bribe with a new car.  Of course, a mother’s definition of new is “new-to-you” or may or may not include Matchbox makes and models :)  

 The funnest part of the trip to the home enthusiast in me was visiting one of our favorite stores – Southeastern Salvage.  We have always bought furniture there because it is uh-mazing with reasonable prices.  We planned on only getting our window-shop on but in the end, we splurged on a new dining room table that we pined over.  haha.  punny   More on that later.

 So that’s my Chattanooga recap.  I have another of our trip to Pittsburgh…just a ton of photos of go through…

oh and in other news….today we signed a contract to get our house repainted….I may be freaking out with happiness.  Sometime in early summer it is happening and I am gonna be diving into paint decks pronto to find a color that I will hopefully love for years and years to come

I was like a lot of folks out there…I had mild allergies.   I think that is why I am excited to talk about this topic today.  3M Filtrete Filters has asked me to talk about living healthier and this is what I chose….tips on how you can battle the dreaded allergies in your home. 

• Check the Weather & Sport Shades

This year we had ridiculous pollen levels.  I actually saw trees in the wind that looked like the branches were dropping pollen like snow.  It was unbelievable.  Checking local pollen levels before stepping outside can help you decide whether that trip to the local gardening center or playing outside is a good idea or you should stick to the indoor activities.  Click here to check the pollen in your area.  Oh and I hear that if levels are high, sporting your sunglasses are one really easy way to keep some of those airborne allergens out of your eyes.     

• Change out your air filters regularly

This is the quickest and easiest way to ward off pollen inside your home.  It’s recommended to change your air filters every three to six months for the best results.  We just changed ours and it was a sleeve of dust, dirt, pollen and tons of what I am sure would send me into a sneezing fit. 

• Strengthen your immune system

Working out your immune system is easier than you think.  It’s recommended to reduce your stress, eat antioxidants, take your vitamins, eat herbs like garlic, gingseng, butterbur and probiotics, sleep on a regular schedule, and workout in the afternoons (preferably inside when pollen counts are high).  Also, keeping your pets out of your bed at night (they bring in allergens when outside!) taking frequent showers and eating local honey can all help.

• Stock your Allergies First Aid Kit

There are tons of great ways to tackle allergies and keep them at bay.  I stock ours with loads of soft tissues, a Neti-pot, saline spray, eye drops, eucalyptus oil, a cool mist steam machine, green tea, and Baby Vicks Vapor Rub.  I also keep my Vitamin C drops in there to suck on to boost immunities.     

Of course, if you have really bad allergies, you should check with your health care provider to get professional help.  What’s your first line of allergy defense?  Any special tricks that I should know about?

This is a sponsored post brought to you by Filtrete Brand filters from 3M. Filtrete Filters help create a healthy home and healthier indoor air by capturing airborne dust, allergens, bacteria, and viruses.  If mold spores, pollen, pet dander, smog and smoke are criminals, Filtrete filters are the crime fighters.  These filters also capture ODORS!  AHH!  Replace yours today to fight your allergies and make your house smell good at the same time!

Rewind a bit…about two years…to our old house.  Wait.  Keep rewinding.  Go about twenty five years or so.  I was in Jersey.  With my parents.  Obviously…because I would be only four years old (wink wink!).  And we lived in a really rural part of Jersey…where the state gets it’s nickname of The Garden State…and my mom would be slaving over a dinner for all four of us kids and it would finally be ready.  But of course, we kids were dirting around making mud pies and digging booby traps in the woods.  (yes, ‘dirting around’ is now officially the term I use for kids playing outside…appropriate, no?!).  So in order for us to hear her, she would open the door and ring a bell.  It’s clang would reverberate through the trees and bring us children running.  My mom was like the Pied Piper…except she was the Belled Bella.  

Now fast forward to three years ago…I had picked up this bell at Home Goods, hoping and praying that I could find a spot to put it so that I too could have a dinner bell to ring and my kiddos could come runnin’. 

Fast forward to about two years ago…I pack up the dinner bell I had bought and never put up…and moved it to our new house…where I placed it in a to-do box. 

Well, you can imagine my excitement when about a month ago, I rediscovered it and was finally able to install it.  Basically I was at 11 on the happy scale.     

Now the Kristen Bell reference.  Have you seen her sloth story on Ellen?  Click here if you haven’t. 

Basically I love her for that.  That’s like me…crying at everything…except I’m nowhere near as cute when I cry.  I’m a snotty ugly mess.  But the point is, this bell is that for me.  It’s my sloth.    

And Will loves it too.  He asks every night if he can ring it….and then shouts “IT’S DINNAH TIME! C’MON EHBODY!” 

Thank goodness he is a too short to reach it without a boost…because we would be eating dinner ALL THE TIME.

Do you have something like that?  Something special you’ve been waiting for?  Waiting to have in your life and you just get weirdly excited about it?  Your own sloth? Or perhaps you can relate to the whole bought-it-moved-it thing?  Or you just had a dinner bell every night?  I’m like Pavlov’s dog…you ring one, I gotta eat.

This is our dining room.  Well.  This is our dining room before we hung up our sentimental spots artwork.  You know…the one where I misspelled Riviera.  Dang photoshop and its lack of spell check.  Not that I would use it…but still…dang photoshop.  Seriously…I can be such an airhead.  But you already know that or you should if you’ve read this blog for long enough.

Back to the point.  Our dining room.  It used to look like this:

A while back, we dreamed about painting the trim white (see that photoshopped photo below?!).  Just saying “painting the trim white” is like a boost of fresh air and a headache all in one.  We love having white trim…we just don’t like painting it…by hand.  After painting Will’s room trim by hand and then spraying the office and kitchen trim, we realized spraying is WAY easier.  As in WAY.

So one day while Jeremy was at work and the boys were napping (it was a miracle of miracles to have them both down at the same time), I decided to take the room from this….

to this…

I was sweating like a husky in the bahamas.  That’s a lot more muscle than I’m usually exerting.

 But everytime I looked around the room, the creamy tan trimwork was taunting me.  It was enough motivation in of itself to get the room cleared.

When we spray, won’t we have to repaint?

Well, me…I’m so glad I asked that.  Yes.  We will need to repaint.  The overspray will definitely muss up the walls.  But I hid a secret from you.  The secret is that the walls were already mussed.  Apparently my spelling skills are up there with my mixing paint skills. 

Way back in the day, when we used oops paint to cover up the RED! paint (yes the color shouted at any passerbyers), I made a fatal error.  I bought the bucket of oops paint, had the folks behind the paint counter spin & shake it, and took it home.  My mom told me that I should mix it again with a stir stick.  Being the daughter I am, I didn’t listen.  So after the first two coats were complete, I poured the remainder of paint out in the pan (along with some white clumps that affected the color)…and proceeded to roll patchy places all over the room.  Go ahead mom.  Say it.  You totally told me so.

Most of it was not noticable in photos….especially when I hung up artwork and such.  In real life though, it stood out.  It bothered me every.day.  But the oops color was still better than the RED! so I left it and moved on to other rooms.

So repainting the walls was a must.  Repainting the walls and trim…both big musts.  When Jeremy got home, he asked what was happening.  I told him that we were gonna repaint the dining room.  He then asked if we were spraying the trim.  Why yes.  yes..you are   He was actually really happy.  He loves a fancy dining room.

The rest of the room got shifted into the foyer and the reading room.   Just keeping it real…

Over the course of the next two days, I Frogtaped and papered the room within an inch of it’s life.  I pushed aside all urges to email/blog/shower/clean/cook and spent every second I could in here.  Which leads me to my next point…I need a day.  I have decided that I need one day a week where I have an hour or two without the boys.  The weekends are awesome for family time and I love being a stay-at-home mom….but if I had just ONE HOUR of a mommy’s helper or babysitter or whatever they call them, I feel like it could be ultra productive.  At least I could have a moment of sanity.

Sherry told me about the awesome couple-day-a-week preschool program that Clara is in….maybe I could find something like that.  Or do a mothers-morning out.  All something to think about.  This motherhood thing is hard to know what is right for your kid and what is right for you and to find balance.   

Sooo…back to the dining room….the whole thing was ready for paint.  Click here for my method for perfectly taped and protected hardwoods. 

We also left a surprise for Jeremy on the floor. 

My gosh they are too cute.  Seriously.  It is probably just me and my hormones…but they are just so adorable, right?!  Like perfectly iced little cupcakes…just begging for a snuggle.  Not that anyone snuggles cupcakes. 

Weston…aka the man of my dreams….he was perfecting the shading on his waistline.  That funny eyebrow gets me.  every.  time.

The floors were ready and the doorways got plastic wrapped.  These giant sheets of plastic are available at Lowe’s.  They are 9×12 I believe and they are 3 for about $3.  They are REALLY thin though so you have to be careful not to rip them when hanging them up.

The next two days Jeremy did all the spraying.  He said he really enjoys it.  It’s the only kind of painting that he does like.  Probably because it is FAST.  He was done with the entire room AND clean up of the sprayer in thirty minutes each day.    

We have the Graco TrueCoat Plus sprayer…I know you’ll ask

And he did two coats.  That’s it. 

The other area that was calling for a coat of white paint was the ceiling.   All the ceilings here are tan.  ergh.

So Jeremy rolled while I cut in.  We used bright white ceiling paint.  It’s flat and covers a lot with one coat. 

We decided to paint both levels of the tray ceiling.  We considered making the lower level a different color again…but in the end, we just wanted it to be all white.  We just felt that this was a darker room and needed more light…especially if we planned a darker wall color. 

See how different the white is from the cream? 

And the previous wall color even looks different now that it’s against white instead of that Nicole-Kidman’s-skin-color. 

Next up?  PAINTING!  I am so so excited to show you all the wall color.  It’s killing me a little just to have to wait to upload the photos.  I MIGHT DIE.

spoiler alert…we already bought the table for in this room too!  AHHH!  Since we were able to save a little in the kitchen, we decided that the extra moolah could be used for a new table.  Unfortunately it’s not in there quite yet because we didn’t have a truck to haul it down from Chattanooga…so for now we have a different table in here (that’s actually quite cute for a smaller dinner table).  I can’t wait to share both the place-holder table and then when we get the big one, share the one we’ve DROOLED OVER. 

Okayokayokay.  I’m off to our playdate and then back to getting the house ready for guests.

p.s.  This is a sponsored post brought to you by FrogTape. The opinions and spelling mistakes are completely my own based on my experience.