Ready for spring. Check.

Hear that colds and coughs? Pack your bags and get outta town.

I've decided I go through home spurts. It feels somewhat like a growth spurt that comes on about every 6 months when I feel an itch to change my surroundings. It's a weird thing that happens. I start to obsess over design blogs and magazines and mood boards and thrift stores and craigslist…you see where I'm going here. Then I start to dream big things. And oh, the things I dream.

But after a few weeks, I usually come back to reality and realize that I really don't have the time or the means to do any of that at all. And the dream comes to a lonely end. But it's okay, because dreaming was half the fun anyhow.

So maybe about a year ago, I came across a space that brought on a serious home spurt. It was this one below found at Good Bones, Great Pieces. It became the big dream. I wanted it. All of it. White walls, that settee, the lamp (oh yellow splash that I love), and that chair? Sweet producer of HGTV, I wanted that chair.

And so it went, I started building this grand idea to bring all of this to my house. I poured over internet sites and scoured thrift stores and dreamed of that lovely yellow lamp in the sky. But as all good home spurts go, I knew that unless someone left a bucket of diamond rings on my doorstep, this baby wasn't going to happen. Unfortunately after the dream ended, that chair wouldn't leave me alone. So off to craigslist again I went. In search of it.

It didn't take too long before I saw it. It was brown and ugly, but the potential was there. It only took me a mere 8 months to actually finish it, but hallelujah, the chair is mine! I'm livin' the dream. sort of. 🙂

question: what should you do when you are asked to help decorate for a luncheon?
answer: call your amazingly creative sister-in-law and have her tell you what to do.
result: do exactly what she says and everything will turn out fabulous! 

amy gave me the great idea to make lollies for centerpieces (along with a bunch of her decor) and rhonna provided the instructions. the actual luncheon was at the church, but i decided to recreate a little backyard party to get the full effect i was dreaming of. wonderful!

i don't like watching the news.

it's hard to watch so many in tragedy while my life just goes on as normal.

i take a deep breath and pray for understanding, for peace, for help to arrive quickly.

then i do my best to be grateful for every little thing this life has to offer.

His hand is in all things.

of this i am sure.

let the christmas countdown begin!  

finally. finally. i am so happy to finally get the ideas out of my head and into reality. this bedroom makeover has been years coming. i knew i wanted to paint it from the day we moved in, and it only took me 2 1/2 years to do it. but that's just how i work. i can't do something unless i have the complete vision and i'm absolutely (and i mean absolutely) sure it's what i want. i can debate over something simple for months.
indecisive. that's me.

what i did know for sure was that i needed something light, something simple, something relaxing, and something with a splash of color. and one major stipulation for the budget–it had to either be on clearance or craigslist.

it all came together just as i had hoped. i'm a happy camper nester!

(the pictures look a little turquoise but it's blue. it's weird how different camera angles change the color.)

found these wall vases on clearance about 5 years ago and they've been sitting in boxes just waiting for the right place. i put fresh flowers in them right now. don't know how long that will last though.

got the hutch thingy and the bench from craigslist months back. one man's junk is my treasure! 

my two favorite things: crawling into this bed at night and looking at these pictures. i don't think i'll ever get sick of them.

and there you have it. on to the next project (maybe)!

i really did think there may have been no hope for the beast.
i made some major mess-ups when i tried to patch the double holes of
the pulls. some people are smart and actually go to the store to buy
spackle when they realize they don't have any. other people (me) think
that caulking might just do the trick because after all it is white and
sticky. i may as well have used toothpaste! a smart one, i am. 😉

i
was tempted to leave the disaster as it was. but i couldn't justify
doing that much work to cringe every time i walked by it. seeing all
the sunken in and bumpy holes would have driven me nuts. so i put on my
patience hat and went to work with more scraping, sanding, and
painting. then trying to put the new knobs in was a whole other event.
just don't ask jeff about it. he may start twitching. oh the things he
does for me!

but she survived. we all survived. i think i'll name her bertie, as in big bertha. she makes me happy.

so while project #1 is on a brief hiatus, project #2 got a little facelift. i saw some super cool chalkboards made from old vintage frames on design sponge a little while back and decided to do something similar. found this little ditty at the thrift store