Who are you, and what have you done with Natalie?? (as quoted from a friend)

I have been working morning and night to get my kitchen done.  No pictures to post - just yet - just know that I have painted the walls an exact match of SW SVELTE SAGE, but the Glidden version - I had a $50 gift card to Home Depot and was able to get 2 gallons of paint for the price of 1 gallon at Sherwin Williams.  I can't believe the difference.  I hope to have the kitchen COMPLETELY done and decorated within the week - just waiting for my friend to get back from her vacation so she can help me 'place stuff'.  I'm just NOT good at that.  

I have worked on something EVERY DAY after work and still managed to do laundry and clean up.  I am really enjoying the 'after' but honestly, I'm getting tired of painting!   Can't wait for ya'll to see the reveal!!

You know you are married to a redneck when ...

I went to grab a clip from my 'hair jar' ......

That would be some sort of bullet mixed in there with it. Don't know why they are there, I just know they are big.  At least he emptied them out of his pocket this time ..... I did a whole load of laundry once with a pocket full of bullets and FREAKED OUT when I opened up the dryer and they fell out!!  

Please do not let this alarm you if you are a visitor to our home ~ Chad always practices excellent gun safety ~ promise.

Fried Eggs and Coffee

My kids have been asking for fried eggs and coffee -- for those of you that know me, ya'll know I took one look at my children and requested a DNA test.  I do not eat eggs that often, ESPECIALLY not a runny fried egg and ESPECIALLY not with a cup of coffee.
My Dad was visiting and made a pot of coffee and so Cameron asked for a cup.  Dad made him a cup and Cameron kept saying "No milk, no sug-ah, I want it just like Pappy" (GAG!) ... this all started on our last visit to my parents.  Dad was drinking coffee and Mom made Cameron a cup - granted it was MOSTLY milk and just a teensy bit of coffee.  This time it was all BLACK coffee and the joker DRANK IT.  UGH!  I prefer an icy cold CAN O' COKE for my morning 'caffeine' ...I can get past the coffee, but a fried egg!!??!?!  
Then today, Kennedy asked for a fried egg in a piece of bread.  WHAT!?!??!  She said that when she was at Aunt Shawn's house, she heard about it and wanted me to make it for her. I asked her "Did Aunt Shawn make it for you?" (because she SO would have had Kennedy asked) ... anyway, I get the piece of bread and b/c I don't have a cookie cutter, I used a wine glass to make the circle, because I am a REFINED Southern girl -- I put loads of butter in the pan and put the bread in there. I cracked the egg and was doing good until I broke the yolk a little. I gave it to her and my child, my sweet, beautiful almost 6yr old daughter DEVOURED the egg and bread combo - while I am looking at her and swearing that a band of thieves came in during the night and stole MY daughter's soul. THEN, she asked me to make another one ......

This time I did not break the yolk, it was actually very nicely done -- as far as disgusting fried eggs go -- and I even thought to myself that my Dad would be so proud - let alone my husband (who is not here otherwise he would have been making it). I place the bread/egg on her plate and she cuts into it and I hear:

GROOOSSSSSSSSS!!!! MOMMMMM-MMMYYY, the egg .... it's not DONE .... this is DISGUSTING!!

I smiled ... SHEW!! That was a CLOSE ONE!!

Too inpatient .... couldn't wait ....

This is what I came up with. I was having lunch today with my friend Karen (hey Karen!) and I was asking her about my di-uh-lemma and she reminded me that I have 2 small children - that sit at that bar - and will quite possibly, almost 100% guaranteed, kick that bar with their feet. She said "I would lightly glaze it - if you don't like it, paint over it" and since I am QUEEN of PAINTING OVER THINGS, then I decided that was what I would do. I then had another meeting after that lunch, in which I discussed, again, what I should do - since that is how I rationalize things. One reader, Chris, commented that I do away with the black and just accent with it -- so I combined several ideas and honestly, really love the outcome. My Dad walked in and said "That looks NICE! You should paint the baseboard the same color as the island" -- DING DING DING - we have a WINNER! For my Dad to compliment ANYTHING, well then, I know I did a job well done!  


Course, this picture does not do it justice.  It looks exactly like the cabinets and is quite pretty.  The baseboard is "turret stair" by Ralph Lauren.  I bought a quart of this stuff and it's lasting FOR-EV-AH!   I walk in my kitchen and now it's not so "IN MY FACE BRIGHT" -- I love it.  NOW, if I could just get the rest of my projects done!  I'm ROLLING through them - seriously.  Have completed one per day ..... that is my goal.  This weekend - paint armoire and prime and paint AT LEAST the kitchen.  

To glaze or not to glaze .... that is the question

********************EDITED TO ADD*******************************


Another sneak peek - but only because I need your opinion .... these are the cabinets that we recently had painted ...





This is my kitchen bar - it was glazed dark. I painted it the same color as the base on the cabinets -- it clashed as it was before. I had the paint already - perfect match.



Here is my di-uh-lemma ~ do I glaze the beadboard -- it has those nice crevices that will just SOAK up the glaze. Tammy was nice enough to leave me with extra glaze - almost a full qt - so I have PLENTY. PLEASE help me make the decision!!

I'm leaving the baseboards the high gloss black ~ there is black in the granite and everyone loves it. I have the black wrought iron pieces that hang on the bar.   They hang between each support thingy - it looks super cool.  They are also a high gloss black.   

Another option ~ I can paint the baseboard on the bar the same chocolate brown/black as the island so it flows .... then I can still glaze the beadboard and it will all coordinate.  I can accent with my black pieces... an idea from Chris!

HELP ME!!!  

PS ~ yes, that is a mcdonald's happy meal bag - no, I did not clean up before I took this picture - just keeping it REAL!! 

PPS ~ Yes, I am going to go back and put another coat of black paint on the baseboard -- I am a messy painter! 

Project 1 ~ DONE ....4,367 to go

Neat idea for an old window...




Before Mom and Dad sold the house we grew up in,they replaced all the windows. Mom actually thought to SAVE a couple of the windows and she gave one to me and one to my sister. This was approximately 3 yrs ago AT LEAST. Anyway, I have had it sitting in my garage for that amount of time and about 6 mths ago, I primed and painted it. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it even then. I finally decided to put it in the playroom ~ which is beach themed. I had 6 pictures blown up to 8x10 (seriously, like 4 mths ago ... I have lost and FOUND them at least 3x). Anyway, I converted all the pictures to black and white for consistency and then last night just decided "I'm going to finish that project". CONSIDERING that is the task at hand here - finishing projects. I finished the headboard (it looks AWESOME) and then just started grabbing stuff in the garage that I knew would be an easy project to finish, and something I could do inside b/c it is really raining a lot here. SO, last night, Chad and I were watching tv and I was cropping. I used spray adhesive to attach the pictures. I found some adhesive words at Michael's and I put "our happy family' at the top and 'precious memories' at the bottom. I think it turned out GREAT!!! if you click on the picture - it makes it a LOT larger and you can really see the detail. It was so important to me to choose the right pictures -this window came from a home I grew up in and there was a LOT OF LOVE in that house - so it means a lot to me to see it come full circle.

My fabric came today too -- for the guest bedroom. I'm going to MAKE the duvet and dust ruffle!! YIKES!! It should be easy though - my Mom has given me pretty specific instructions. I will do that on my next day off when there are no children here - I get stressed as it is, trying to sew will just add to it. Hey, you never know, I might finish all this stuff BEFORE October.

Oh, and I'm probably painting this weekend - svelte sage - in the kitchen. The dark sage is just TOO dark with the cabinets.

Putting it in writing ....

Just got back from a crazy, fun-filled weekend with these girls:

We kept it pretty tame ~ except for our gymnastics and pyramids on the lawn of the hotel ~ and whatever else we did ..... 

View from our room ~ it seriously doesn't get any better than this ... and solidifies why I NEVER EVER want to move from here ..... this is a mere 40 minutes from my house!

I have now decided to have an 'open house' of sorts, a get together of girlfriends so everyone can see how much we have done to the house!  It seriously is a brand new house.  I have given myself a 'drop-dead date' some time in October ... to where I MUST be finished EVERY PROJECT IN THIS HOUSE.  I can do it.  But knowing that I have that date will certainly motivate me to get it all done.  Dad is here this week and he is going to help me with some of it.  I decided to start room by room and finish whatever project I need to get done in there - yes, I have something IN EVERY ROOM.  Whether it be touch up paint, hanging a picture, etc - it's getting done.  If I do a little each day, then surely it will get accomplished.  I have called in the troops for a couple things and they have gladly accepted the call ~ so I am PUTTING IT IN WRITING, that I will have all of these things DONE by October (yeah, it's a LONG list).

Sneak Peek ....

I don't want to post a FINISHED picture until I get all my decorating done. SO, here's a sneak peek of the cabinet just below the sink ~ let me tell you, the end result is GORGEOUS!!!

Weekend Fun

My snaggle toothed kid.....


SIGH I don't know where she gets it from ......


But at least she gets it honestly!

Only 4 more days until the RITZ GIRLS WEEKEND 2008 ~ watch out Sarasota!

Rock On,

Will it ever end?!?!

Our floors are done ~ believe it or not! Cameron's room is all put back together and we are moving right along on getting the guest bedroom done. I will post some before/after pictures soon. The cabinets have been primed/painted and she will be back on Monday to finish that up. So far, everyone that has come over has LOVED the look of the cabinets. It's going to look fantastic, I know it. I can't wait until it's all done!!

Hope you are all having a fantastic weekend!

In case ya'll were wonderin'

I got my picture today!!!

Could it BE any more PERFECT!?!  Kim totally outdid herself!

When I called her a few months ago, I had been looking for a 'relax' sign but all I could find where the wooden letters that have a base and are all attached - you can't hang it on a wall. I had a picture of renaissance looking naked guy on that wall - seriously - but that picture was WAY old and just didn't go with the decor of the bathroom. It's very Tuscan. Yes, our house is a modge podge of styles, but I have always stuck with the reds/bronze/gold in our bedroom. That towel rack?? Got it at Hobby Lobby for $7.50 ~ yep. I've had it for a year now, forgot about it until I opened up the closet where my air conditioning unit is (NO COMMENTS Shawn) and found it. I keep a lot of things in there that probably aren't supposed to be there, but I'm just keepin' it real, ya'll.

So I had to do a little patch job that even my husband commented looked great - I'm becoming quite the renaissance woman - doing all this handy work myself. Really the only way it gets done unless my Dad or Chad's dad is visiting (Hello Harold - when are ya'll coming back down!!!!). Dad will be here in a couple weeks and if you are reading this (because I'm SURE my Dad reads my blog, but Mom will give him the message just incase) - I got some projects for ya!!

Anyway, back to the painting - as you can see from the wall color and the painting - it's DEAD ON and girlfriend didn't even KNOW what color my wall was painted. The towel is not really that red, but it picks up the burgandy in the painting. it's just GORGEOUS and so much bigger than I thought it was going to be!! Thanks Kim!! LOVE IT!!

The heavens have parted ....

The girl that is faux-painting our cabinets was not supposed to start until September. She called last night ~ had a change in scheduling and wanted to know if we were available TODAY for her to start. YEP! Considering my house is turned t-TOTALLY upside down, now is as good a time as any!! YAY!!

Seriously, ya'll - when is it going to STOP!?!

Today I went to lunch with one of my clients and we had to stop by a house that is closing this week. When we got there, the buyer was already there. We went in just to say hello and let me tell ya, the house was OLD and PINK (MAUVE). The lady that lived there died in the hospital and her daughter in Ohio didn't feel like coming down and dealing with the house. She sold the house and it's contents for $160K - house appraised for $215K - so these buyers got a STEAL - but they are going to have to COMPLETELY renovate the inside of the house. I was looking around and asked what they planned on doing with the stuff in the house - you know, making small talk. The lady said "We're going to sell it all - have an estate sale, but I'm blowing stuff out" and so I casually asked about a wrought iron candlabra and she said "Do you want it?" and I said "Yes, I think I do ~ how much do you want for it?" and she said 'If you'll just take it, that will be payment enough!" -- YA'LL!!!!!! AGAIN - I would NEVER in a gagillion years have even looked twice at this.  

BEFORE



AFTER (primer and ivory satin spray paint)

So I don't think I'm totally finished with this - any ideas to spruce it up would be GREAT. Maybe some gold or bronze paint rubbed on? I think it's going to go in my guest bedroom - the 'shabby beach retreat'.

Here she is .....

For those of you that have been patiently waiting for me to post about my 'deal of the century' ~ here it is!!  

I am redoing my guest bedroom.  The furniture in there is 10 yrs old, however it has never really been used.  It is ENORMOUS and just takes up too much space in this small bedroom.  After lurking several blogs and watching one too many 'Weekend Decorating' shows on DIY, I decided I wanted to downsize.  Not the bed itself, just the headboard.  I sold the bed and dresser for enough $$ to cover the new headboard I wanted from "WOOD YOU" ~ a local unfinished furniture place.  It left me with enough to buy some fabric for a side table and some odds and ends.  I want a 'shabby beach retreat' look to the room.  I had not bought the headboard yet b/c I wanted to wait until the furniture was picked up.  That isn't happening for another few weeks, so I thought I would make a last ditch effort to the Salvation Army Thrift store and see what they had, since I had ZERO luck at Goodwill or Craigslist (those jokers think their furniture is made of gold - sorry, it AIN'T!).

I pulled up and saw it in the window - a beautiful VERY beach cottage looking headboard.  I seriously thought to myself "This is too good to be true" ~ it was.... it was a full.  I need a queen.  SO I ask the nice gentleman if he has any other wood headboards.  I didn't care if it was scratched as I was going to be painting it.  He leads me to the back and shows me a ton that I would never even CONSIDER (we're talking 1970's people).   SO, we're sifting through a bunch that they have just stacked on top of one another.  I see a wood and wrought iron one that would work, but it's still SO plain.  He flips that one to the next one (hitting me in the head while he did it,too but anyway) and there she was.  It was like the heavens parted and a choir of angels were singing.  He said 'Oh, here's a queen - but it's really going to need some elbow grease' and I told him that it was ok.  I look at the price - $69.95.  I was ELATED - the one I was going to get at WOOD YOU was $179.99 ~ SO, as I am ABOUT TO TELL HIM TO HOLD IT FOR ME, he says 'It's been here awhile, will you take it for $29.99?" --- ya'll seriously, that's what I get b/c I was GOING to pay $69.95 ~ I tell him "SURE, I could probably make it work for that" and again I'm FREAKING OUT INSIDE.  Before I entered this blog world, I would NEVER in a gagillion years thought to PAINT FURNITURE!!! 

SO -- here is my $29.99 QUEEN headboard.  Can't you see the wood applique in the center?  It will be painted a creamy white and then I'll run a tobacco glaze over it ~ the same treatment I am doing to an old armoire we have in the garage.  This project won't be started for a couple weeks - don't want to start painting until hubby is done with the floors.   Chad picked it up for me today and said "Babe, this thing is OLD!" and I said "I KNOW!!!".  I can't WAIT!!! Because this was only $29.99, I now have enough to buy a new ceiling fan in there too!!

My 'first' deal of the century .....

I heart this dress ......


For the past 2 yrs, I have been involved in some capacity with the Evening of Hope ~ a big fundraiser that benefits the Foundation Angel Program (in which I am also involved with here in Tampa).  Last year, I was co-chair and we decided we wanted it to be BLACK TIE.  It was so nice to see everyone in our community get all dressed up ~ there aren't enough events for me to wear every dress I own, so of course, I was pushin' for the whole 'black tie' thing.  Last year I paid just under $200 for my dress - and didn't think twice about it until I shredded the ENTIRE hem of the dress because of the crystals on my shoes.  

Since January, we have been on a BUDGET BUSTING spree to get out of debt ~ long story short ~ bad company investment (shady partner doesn't help) + 2 lawsuits (greedy lawyers don't help here either) = LOTS 'O DEBT.  We are fortunate that my income was used to help get that debt down to now it's completely manageable and I see a light at the end of the tunnel (hoping it's not a train) but I digress.  Oh, and prayer - that helps too.  ANYWAY, on to my original reason for this post : I was at Dillard's stopping in to check out their mega clearance sale b/c frankly, I needed new sheets.  Check - found 400tc sheets that were $30 - pretty decent but I've gotten deals like that before.  There was a clearance rack of evening gowns and I thought to myself "Hmmmm, wonder if they have anything in my size that I can wear for the EOH" and so I flipped through the rack - NOTHING.  I headed over to the junior department b/c sometimes you can find some decent dresses over there.

First of all - let me say this - what some of these girls have available to them, is RIDICULOUS!  I found several that were decent and were only $20-$35.  I figured that I could wear one of them to some of the other events we go to every year.  In the fitting room, I had the harsh realization that I am NOT a 3/4 anymore, plus all the dresses had been trashed.  I convinced myself I could fix the silver I wanted and be done with it.  Who really remembers what you wear anyway ~ I also had tried on a royal blue Jessica McClintock gown that was STUNNING, however it was just too big and I didn't want to get it and then spend $100 in alterations.  

As I was leaving the fitting room, I saw one last rack that had 50% dresses and then an additional 40% off the clearance price.  THIS was more up my alley - they were more 'grown up' - meaning their clearance price was $100, rather than $35.  SO I found a beautiful liquid gold Jessica McClintock dress (as seen above) and even though the size was literally 2 sizes bigger than I normally wear, it really looked like it would fit.  I tried it on - perfection.  It wasn't too big at all and was not so tight that I would embarrass my co-chair.   I was imagining my shoes (that I already have) and thought I would just need to get some ROCKIN' big chandelier earrings.  I looked at the tag = $101.50 ~ ok, so it would be just about $60 - this was a $260 dress originally.  I was literally skipping to the register - so happy.  I even had a $10 off Dillard's rewards check ... so $50 ... YAY ME.  

I got to the register.

It rang up and she gave me my total.

Cashier:  That will be $32.10 ~ are you going to be using your Dillard's?

me: I'm sorry - WHAT?!

Cashier:  Yes, your total is $32.10 - the dress was marked down to $50 and there is an add'l  40% off.

me:    Oh yeah, thanks (inside:  HOLY FREAKIN' CRAP!!  IS SHE SERIOUS!?!?!)

So there I went - with my $22.10 (don't forget my coupon!!) and don't think I won't make this look like the $260 dress that it is!! HA!!  

Come back tomorrow for my great find at the Salvation Army Thrift Store......

ANOTHER deal of the century ....

The 'deal of the century Gods' are smiling on me this past week -- come back tomorrow to see what I've laid my hands on.  Chad has to go pick it up from the SALVATION ARMY THRIFT STORE ~ oh yeah baby!

Look what I got today!

I emailed The Nester and asked her if she made custom tassels ~ she said that she did and that she absolutely could NOT wait to make something girly for me (not really - but it went something like that in my head!) ~ I ordered it on Sunday and it came today! That Nester is freaky fast on the shipping!!

Cute packaging ~ HUH!?!

Even CUTER on the inside!
RIGHT UP MY ALLEY ~ will look perfect in Kennedy's room
Bird tassels' final nesting place (HA HA HA ~ I'm FUNNY!)