The New Place
Last modified on 2011-11-29 15:28:16 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
We did it!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are FINALLY moved in to our FIRST home.
And let me tell you….we will be painting FOREVER. It already been more than two weeks and we are only just now done with the downstairs. The previous owners did not show much love for this place. EVERY door, wall, the entire trim needs to be repainted. And don’t even get me started on the cleaning…. I will spare you from the dirty details.
A LARGE portion of my blogging over the next few years I expect will be featuring our projects around the house. Zac and I have such a BEAUTIFUL vision for this place. It has AWESOME potential, but will take an incredible amount of hard work. I know I am going to need some encouragement on the days where I look at the place and feel like I have so much left to accomplish, so here are the before photos so that I have something to gauge all our efforts against….
Isn’t it cute?! We think so…. AND it even has a small front porch :)
The living room is the first room in the house.
Behind it, and on the other side of the stairs, is the kitchen. (The red walls have got to go!)
And here is the master bedroom, it is the biggest bedroom I have EVER had and the bathroom is HUGE too!
Upstairs are two more bedrooms, a bathroom AND an office. They get such great light up there and have a ton of personality….but Zac can’t wait to paint over those polka dots….
And the office came with a free futon for us to sell on Craigslist, lol. 
Winter at Valley Forge
Last modified on 2011-06-24 22:39:50 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Zac.is.awesome. You should all be jealous that he’s mine.
This week he surprised me with a painting I have been coveting for FOREVER. It was on sale from DeseretBook this week from $300 (now you know why I haven’t already snatched it up.) I showed it to Zac on Monday but our better-judgement stopped us from buying it as now is just not a good time (saving up for a house, Georgia vacation in one-week and EVERYONE’s birthdays in our family seem to fall in the summer.)
And then………….Zac surprised me! That sneaky little sucker had bought it behind my back. The unveiling is a long, complicated and rather embarrasing story of myself to be shared at a later date.
The painting is by Arnold Frieberg and is a solemn George Washington at Valley Forge. Its sister painting “Prayer at Valley Forge” is much more famous and my uncle has a beautiful signed and numbered print. I love that painting as well, but there is something about this one that has always got to me.
We haven’t got a good place for it in this apartment and as I have stated before, I’m SO over this place so I am not going to make a place for it until our new house. I do love to stare at it in the office though…. :)
Thanks Zachary!
Hair Envy
Last modified on 2011-06-03 15:47:13 GMT. 1 comment. Top.
It’s decided. I am growing my hair out again just so I can do this with it:
For those of you who haven’t met me, my hair used to be LONG for a LONG time. Like down to my “derriere” (I was trying not to say “butt”). And I swore I would never cut it, as if it gave me Samson-like strength. But instead of burly-muscles I got a photographic memory, quick wit and sharp tongue.
And then…………….early last summer…………I cut it.
I don’t know why. It might have been post-grad life crisis angst; now that I was frozen, standing terrified on a street in a scary place called reality after college had given me a diploma and kicked me to the curb. I was this “new” person, whether I liked it or not. And apparently “new” people need to “new” hair (or so I must have been thinking.) So I cut it and those 11 inches fell to the floor with a resounding thud.
Poor Zac. I hadn’t told him what I was planning, not that I could have. (It was one of those last-minute-swerve-across-three-lanes impulses.) He LOVED the haircut, but prepared himself for the AFTERMATH. Smart boy. The sporadic crying, the pathetic longing stares at other women with long locks, and morning screams of frustration when I realized I couldn’t do anything I used to with my hair….
BUT I am proud to say that none of that happened! ……………………….until we got engaged……….and planned a wedding for four months later. Then came the tears for my hair. However I made it through (just-barely at times.) And I have even kept it up. It’s been one full year with short hair! But now I am DONE and it’s back to long even if for just a while. Or just to be able to french braid it ONCE without having chunks fall out because they are too short.
P.S. www.LoveMaegan.com is kind of amazing, but I cannot look at it until my hair is back to a respectable length again. And she has awesome video tutorials. Go Maegan.
Springing into Summer
Last modified on 2011-05-17 15:09:10 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Just a quick post I wanted to share….
This “mystery tree” outside our apartment building has exploded into HUGE yellow blossoms this last week. It makes me smile everytime I run out the door; the explosion of color and the mountains of petals littering the sidewalk.
I have been trying to figure out the species of this tree for six months now….this is just one more clue to add to its dossier….
A Proud Gator Grad
Last modified on 2011-05-17 15:28:27 GMT. 1 comment. Top.
I FINALLY got around to getting a frame for my diploma. It’s been sitting in a cardboard tube in the corner of our office since we moved in. If it was only a simple 8.5” x 11” diploma then this wouldn’t have been an issue. But the University of Florida goes above and beyond as usual, (and they know how much we gator grads like to brag), which makes our diplomas and awkward 12″ x 16″.
Well, it’s not only UF that does this. A lot of big schools do it these days. It’s all really just a big racket so that we are forced into buying a custom frame from their university bookstores or some local affiliate. Frames that START at $100+. Anyways, enough of my ranting…. My solution was to go to Michael’s when frames were on 40% sale and I bought three frames (for my diploma, James’ art piece, and another item in our office) all for less than $60!
I have been saving the large wall in our office for this homage to my alma mater. Alongside my diploma are a few other sentimental items including:
- My felt pennant my mother bought for me when she moved me into my freshman dorm.
- A colored pencil drawing James did my sophmore year. (Yes……..HE ACTUALLY DID DRAW THAT!)
- A vintage orange & blue state of FL license plate I picked up while antiquing with Sarah my senior year.
And also a not-so-sentimental albeit neat-o calendar my mom picked up for me at Cracker Barrel. It’s all vintage football posters that are actaully on tear-sheets and frameable when you are done with the calendar! I am totally saving these for a little boy’s room someday…
(P.S. A football ticket in 1954 was 35 cents. NOT FAIR.)
Fabulous Freebies
Last modified on 2011-04-23 13:31:14 GMT. 4 comments. Top.
So when I first opened my Etsy shop, I was contacted by a professional photographer who offered to do a swap: free photos for free hats. This works to both of our advantages as she gets free publicity with her logo on the photos, and I get an added touch of realism and professionalism which helps sell my product.
Beyond the practicality of this, this woman is UH-MAZING at what she does. Just take a look for youself at her beautiful website: www.roycewinnickphotography.com
Anyways, she sent back some finished photos this morning which has already made my day and it’s only 9am! Check ‘em out:
BEST DAY (at joann fabrics) EVER!
Last modified on 2011-04-22 21:48:45 GMT. 2 comments. Top.
GGGGGGGGAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!! I just had the most GLORIOUS experience!!!!!
So I have been wanting a really nice rotary cutter for FOREVER, especially with all my abundant recent sewing. I have had my eye on this beautiful Gingher at Joann Fabrics. They average between $70 and $90 dollars, but like all things, you get what you paid for and these things are TOP quality.
Welllll, I was doing my 3-times-weekly shopping at Joann’s when I spotted this baby in the clearance basket in the checkout line with a sticker on it that said $35.99!!!!!!!!! OMG!!!! BUT Zac and I are trying to save money for a downpayment on a house we hope to buy this summer and are trying to cut out unecessary extras until we have saved enough. It’s been tough, but we are doing it slowly but surely.
Anyways, in light of our situation, I felt guilty enough with everything I had in my cart already. I didn’t see how I could swing an extra $35. Well the ladies at the checkout counter were thoroughly amused watching me pick it up and put it back, pick it up and put it back, pick it up…and…put it back. I explained to them my months of longing for one of these, and the woman in line ahead of me commented that Monday was the big Red Tag sale and that all clearance would be an additional 50% off!!! That would make this dreamboat less than $20!
So I put it back one more time, and when it was my turn at the register I asked the cashier what time the store opened on Monday. She replied 9 am and I said I would be there first thing. Next thing I know, she looked both ways, then grabbed that cutter out of the basket, worked some register magic, and DROPPED IT IN MY BAG!!!!!!!! GAAHHH!!!
After I finally remembered to close my mouth, I told her she didn’t have to do that (but I wasn’t going to fight it). She looked at me and said:
“Honey, I have a three-day weekend this Easter. It’s my first three-day weekend in a year. I don’t want you ruining it by having me worry all weekend what would happen if someone bought that cutter and you showed up Monday morning to find it gone. Now have a nice Easter.”
When I looked at my receipt, she didn’t just give me the sale price early, she marked it as “damaged” and gave me 75% OFF THE CLEARANCE PRICE!! So in the end, my beautiful rotary cutter cost me less than eight dollars. Almost 90% off the original price!!!
Move over Charlie Sheen……..I AM WINNING!
And one more note… As I was sitting and admiring my new toy at every red light on the drive home I though to myself…These are things that make me incandescently happy these days. Some people might think it’s pathetic, but I think it’s kind of amazing.
Tiny Tulip
Last modified on 2011-03-26 17:48:43 GMT. 1 comment. Top.
Zac brought me flowers last night. I REALLY needed them too which he had no idea, making it all even better. Unfortunately one little guy was broken half-way down the stem and couldn’t hold his head up o the others :(
So I remembered the ADORABLE bud vases Mrs. McKenney bought me as an enagagement gift from Macys. They are a too-cute set of four Dansk “Bouquette” vases which I also found on Amazon.com.
Now this tiny tulip is rocking it solo on the bathroom counter to bring me a little sheer in the morning :)
p.s. Those apothecary-like jars are only $3 from Walmart.
p.s.s. For more more ornate apothecary jars, I am going to try this cool DIY someday soon!
Garage Sale Gold Mine
Last modified on 2011-03-08 22:02:49 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
So the same day my mother and I visited the Arcadia Antique Fair and I found my Fenton, we stopped along this A.W.E.S.O.M.E. garage sale out in the estates (for those of you not local, that is the where all the huge, expensive homes and farms are located out in our boondocks.) The two guys who owned this house bought a bungalow in Sarasota near Ringling (one of many homes I am sure) and were liquidating much of their rustic-chic decor.
It was one of those GREAT GOLD MINE sales where the hosts aren’t trying to turn a profit, they are honestly trying to just get rid of stuff which means mega steals for us customers. I bought a slew of never-been-used hardcover classic children’s books including, Shel Silverstein’s “Giving Tree,” “The Missing Piece, and other favorites like “The Steam Shovel,” and the entire set of ” A Series of Unfortunate Events.” And they only cost……drum roll please……. ONE STINKIN’ DOLLAR EACH! Needless to say my mother and I grabbed every book in sight, each of us racking up about 20.
But I also got this beautiful wooden elephant marionette puppet from Thailand. It was apparent these guys had traveled the world and had some pretty amazing trinkets, but I was running out of money and we hadn’t even made it to the antique fair yet. They only wanted $3 dollars for this baby so I took it too. If anything it will be a unique knick-knack for a nursery someday.
Quick funny story: that night when Zac and I were watching a movie, we noticed Coltrane peering around a shelf with serious intensity at this elephant. He was solidly focused with hairs-on-end for almost ten minuted before he realized it was an inanimate object. lol.