Pin your Interest

So I know this has been all over blogland but I feel like a few of my peeps a.k.a. readers may not be all up in blogland and they may enjoy learning about this wonder phenomenon known as Pinterest.  Now I will admit I was totally pronouncing this all wrong initially.  It’s like “interest” with a “P” = Pinterest. 

Pinterest is a site you can use to catalog all the wonderful things you see on the web.  Whether it’s recipes, design ideas, projects to make, outfits that inspire, birthday wish lists and the list could go on and on.

Remember back in the day when you would get a magazine and you’d pull out the page with whatever wonderful idea was on it.  You’d put in a stack to “file” in your “idea file.”  Well Pinterest is just that but digitally. You add this snazzy little button on your internet toolbar and any time you’re on a website where you want to catalog that image – you click on “pinterest.”  It will pull up every image on that page and you decide which one you want to pin.  Now where this is even more exciting…  it automatically links that image to the url address.  So when you want to go back and make those super yummy looking cookies, you go to your “food” board, click on the image and voila!  Your back at that site with the recipe.  Each pin you can notate as you like so you’ll know exactly why you pinned it!

Genius!!!

So let me show you what I’ve been pinning recently…

Inspiring Spaces:

    

Projects to do:

     

Yummy things to cook:

    

Pretty things to buy:

    

Funky ideas:

Please click on the picture to take you to the original source

I’m telling you Pinterest is addictive and productive ALL at the same time!  You must check it out.  Oh and by the way you need an “invite” to get an account.  So let me know if you want to join with me in my addiction!

Oh and we can follow each other’s boards too!  Follow me here!  Do you already have an account?  I’d love to follow you.

Picture, picture on the wall…

I’ve been adding some artwork in the house and thought I’d share with ya…

A couple months back, I was checking out YHL’s hallway – o –art, and fell in love with the artwork from Katie Daisy via her Etsy shop. 

She’s an artist right from right around these parts – in Asheville NC.  So I picked up one piece for my sweet cousin’s B-Day present and one for me!

    

My cousin, Elizabeth, loves the ocean and is at home most when she is near the ocean.  This piece spoke to me immediately for her.  A lovely quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson.

And then when I saw this ampersand – I fell in love.  I love graphic art, but this piece is more than just graphic.  The way she illustrated this just makes me happy.  And I love the ‘implication” it gives.  me & you. It’s a perfect piece for our bedroom.

    

And now for our other addition.  My mom was so sweet and gave us a watercolor of our home.  She did such a beautiful job!  I love the feel of the piece.  It’s light and airy but still with realistic perspective.  A piece we will always treasure!

This is a good side by side perspective.

Lovely, right!  And she even got Annie in there!

I hung the piece in the hallway – it looks great on the new wall color!

If you would like to have my mom do a watercolor rendering of your home, let me know!!  It makes a wonderful gift or memento for yourself!

Have you gotten any other artwork recently?  Any favorite artists out there or a favorite Etsy shop?  Would love to hear about it!

Progress Report

I was telling y’all about all the projects going on around here…  And I’ve been working!  So I thought I’d share our progress so far.

So just to remind you, these were our projects that needed some attention:

Clean out closets    •     Organize Attic      •     Add additional flooring to attic     •     Paint Hallway    •    Hang new mirror    •      Touch up trim paint throughout    •   Re-paint kitchen countertops    •  Trim boxwoods & vine    •    Put out mulch or pinestraw   •  Clean out gutters    •   Get deck rebuilt    •  De-clutter accessories    •  Re-arrange  guest room     •   Re-organize laundry room   •   Hang light fixture in mud room  •  Get said light fixture   •   Figure out something for center of dining room table

And here’s what we’ve been able to mark off so far:

Clean out closets    •     Organize Attic      •     Add additional flooring to attic     •    Paint Hallway    •    Hang new mirror    •      Touch up trim paint throughout    •   Re-paint kitchen countertops    •  Trim boxwoods & vine    •    Put out mulch or pinestraw   •  Clean out gutters    •   Get deck rebuilt    •  De-clutter accessories    •  Re-arrange  guest room     •   Re-organize laundry room   •   Hang light fixture in mud room  •  Get said light fixture   •   Figure out something for center of dining room table

Pretty good progress, huh!

and what kind of blog post would this be without a few pics!  So check it out!

Deck – BEFORE:

We wanted to keep the deck the same size and shape so we could utilize the framework already present.  The old wood was warped and rotten in places and had seen better days!  So after one weekend of work  - here’s how she looks now!

Deck AFTER:

So much better!!  But now the patio furniture looks a mess!  I had used 2 of these chairs on the front porch and painted them black.  So now there are mis-matched chairs and a rusty table.  I love this furniture but without having it sandblasted and re-painted I believe it may be time to say good-bye. I’ve gotten $500!!  OUCH!  If anyone has a suggestion of someone in Charlotte that does this – please let me know! So I guess I need to add Patio Furniture to the list.

Organizing closets:

What is it about an organized closet that just makes me happy??  I lurve it!  I open the door and just smile.  And adding cute boxes totally helps with the look.  I love these from IKEA.

Paint the hallway / hang the new mirror:

Paint color: Ground Ginger – same as Living Room.  And new IKEA mirror.

Paint countertops:

I tried the new Rustoleum countertop paint.  And it ROCKS.THE.PARTY!  But boy is it stinky!  Make sure you ventilate the area!!

Rearrange Guest Room:

This room was wall to wall furniture – and it’s not a big room to start.  So taking out the dressing table and moving the bed to a different wall really helped open up the space.  And one more trick:

The window treatments in here are only 85” panels so I couldn’t raise them but I did buy a longer rod and extended them beyond the window to help make the window feel larger.  High and wide is always the motto with window treatments!

I didn’t take pictures of the attic.  There is a line that shouldn’t be crossed in blogland and I believe it may be “the pictures of your attic.”  But needless to say adding additional flooring makes organizing all that junk stuff upstairs so much easier!

So let’s see what’s left:

Clean out closets    •     Organize Attic      •     Add additional flooring to attic     •    Paint Hallway    •    Hang new mirror    •      Touch up trim paint throughout    •   Re-paint kitchen countertops    •  Trim boxwoods & vine    •    Put out mulch or pinestraw   • Clean out gutters    •   Get deck rebuilt    •  De-clutter accessories    •  Re-arrange  guest room     •   Re-organize laundry room   •   Hang light fixture in mud room  •  Get said light fixture   •   Figure out something for center of dining room table

So we’re going to focus on the yard next.  UGH!  In 100 degree weather, are we crazy???  Yes probably. 

Hopefully be back soon with more progress reports!  What are you working on these days?  Hopefully indoor projects!

Just keep working, working, working, working...

sing that title to Dory's cute song from Finding Nemo - ok now on to the content...

                                                         image from here - hello super cute to-do pads!  Yes, please!

I have been working really hard around the house the past couple weeks.  All blog worthy activities.  Have I blogged about any of them?  Nope.  Sad but true.  It's funny.  I'm always thinking about what to blog about, especially when I don't have any actual projects going on.  But then I have tons of projects going on and then neglect to blog about them.  Seems rather weird logic.

The list is pretty detailed:

Clean out closets    •     Organize Attic      •     Add additional flooring to attic     •     Paint Hallway    •    Hang new mirror    •      Touch up trim paint throughout    •   Re-paint kitchen countertops    •  Trim boxwoods & vine    •    Put out mulch or pinestraw   •  Clean out gutters    •   Get deck rebuilt    •  De-clutter accessories    •  Re-arrange  guest room     •   Re-organize laundry room   •   Hang light fixture in mud room  •  Get said light fixture   •   Figure out something for center of dining room table

It's a lot right!   After reading that list you may have an idea what's going on - and why all those things need to be done...   Yep - you guessed it.  We're going to put the house on the market!?!?!?!  YIKES!

We've done a lot of discussing and just feel like it's the right time to see if we can sell our current super sweet, uber cute casa and up-grade to a bit larger (i.e. TWO bathroom) hacienda.  It's all a bit of a rollercoaster ride.  We may not be able to get what we want for our current abode, and if that's the case we'll stay put.  The good news is that we have that flexibility.  We don't have to sell.  But like our real estate agent said, "if you can get on the other side of the fence - the buyer side - you're golden!" 

So we're going to see if we can...  And I'm going to update you guys on all the happenings around the house that have been keeping me busy!  And poor Joe.  Boy, how he loves a "honey-do" list.

What's going on in your world?  Any advice for a first time Seller?  All tips mucho appreciated!!

In the works...

Paint brushes, rollers chaos...  Yep there's a project going on at the hizzy...  Stay tuned for details!

What are you doing this weekend??

Spreading Love in Honduras

We’re heading back to Honduras soon and CANNOT wait to see these sweet smiling faces again!!

If you would like to know more about the group we’ll be going with check out Louder Than Words’ website.  If you would like to see about our trip from last year go here, here or here.  And from the first year I went, here.  And if you want to learn more about the orphanage, you can go to their website here.

Please pray for our safety and that the children will have a great time at “camp.”  Our hope is that they will feel the love of Jesus Christ through us. 

Cooking with Gas

We have been in DESPERATE need for a new grill.  Our existing grill was a present for Joe’s 30th birthday. (he’s turning 37 in a month!)  So 7 years for a grill to last is pretty good.  Well truth be told we haven’t been able to use the grill for while.  Why, you ask?  Because it looks like this!

Doesn’t look too bad on the outside!  But the insides – not so much!  Check out that rust.  UGH!

We had been talking about getting a new grill all spring.  But we just couldn’t seem to get to the store to actually purchase it.  So on Sunday afternoon, we hopped in the car to run some errands.  We had 3 stops to make.  Shop for a mattress – yes we STILL haven’t purchased a mattress.  More on that later.  Go try out some bicycles – potential birthday presents for each other.  And head to the Home Improvement store for a grill.

So our first stop was to Home Depot and we can upon this grill.  It was in the budget – good sized and was in stock.  So we said “we’ll take it!”  BUT when we went outside to pick out which one we wanted; they all looked junky.  Already rusted in spots – dings in the cover.  I didn’t want to start out with rust.  So I walked back inside and returned the grill before we even took it anywhere.

So next stop was Lowes.  I was determined to get a grill!  We found a Char-Broil that looked pretty swanky!  So we pulled the trigger on that one.  Well out to the car we went.  Joe and I both felt extremely confident that it would fit in the back of his SUV.  We were both extremely WRONG!  And of course by this time it was 5:55 on Sunday and they were closing @ 6 pm.  So our plan was to come back on Monday and rent the “Lowes” truck.

So Joe headed back on Monday to rent the truck.  BUT he didn’t have his updated insurance card!  URGH!!  Was this grill thing supposed to happen or WHAT!?!  Thankfully a friend at work let me borrow his truck and I got that bessie home.  She looks so pretty in her new home.

Joe made some yummy Bison burgers for our inaugural grill off!  And so much faster than waiting on the charcoal like we had been doing.  I am so thankful to have a gas grill again!!  I seem to eat so much healthier when I grill. 

Have you had any challenging purchases recently?  Are you making the most of the grilling season?  Any recipes you would care to share??

And I just have one more thing to share with you guys…  Annie was looking super cute hanging with me on the deck as I was taking pictures.  So she had to pose for a shot too!

What a cutie pa tootie!