Spring Mantel

Some of my favorite bloggers have recently posted stories of updating their fireplace mantel for spring, and it really inspired me.  Especially after I considered that I had not changed my mantel decor in over two years (except for Christmas).  I had in mind to scout out a silver and glass lantern and light blue candles.  So, on a recent shopping trip with my mom, I hit up T.J. Maxx.  I found some lanterns, but they all had fake plastic candles built into them.  That just didn't appeal to me.  What did appeal to me was this SUPER CUTE turquoise filigree metal lantern.  And it even has a little bird on top! Don't you just love little birds? Also, there was a wooden "Peace" sign that spoke to me.   Our home is our refuge from the hectic pace of our work world, and most of the time it is a very peaceful place to relax.  I like think my decorating style is a reflection of my personality; comfortable and cozy, peaceful and relaxing, but with playful punches of color and a little whimsy here and there! 

What do you think?

The rest of the items on the mantel, the pottery and picture frame, were shopped from around the house. It all didn't really seem to come together for me until I added the old window frame.  I've had a couple of those things hanging around in my basement for several years just waiting for me to get the right idea of what to do with them.  I think eventually this one will become a picture frame to hold old black and white photos, but it's found a good home for now.  (The other window frame got sold at my antiques booth; it also found a good home!)

(P.S. - Don't look too close at the picture in the frame, it's still got the model's photo in it.  I've been lazy about developing my photos! :)

My New Dishwasher

I don't always have the best luck buying appliances.  In the past my modus operandi was to purchase the least expensive model.  However, I've learned my lesson on getting what you pay for when it comes to appliances.  If you go cheap, you're usually going to get a cheaply made product that will break down after a year or two and you'll be spending even more money on a replacement.  Nope, it's better to pay a little more up front to get the middle-of-the-line model that will work just as well as the top-of-the-line model, but just doesn't have all the bells and whistles. 


Recently when Lowe's had an advertised sale on appliances, I researched the dishwashers, read the reviews, and made my choice.  I went with the Samsung 24-in built-in dishwasher with hard food disposer and stainless steel tub; Model #: DW7933LRASR.  It had the best reviews overall, and got very good ratings for being quiet. The quietness factor was big on my priority list.

Ain't it purdy?

The last time I bought a dishwasher (only 5 years ago) I went with the cheapest one they had at Lowe's and I have never been happy with it.  I had to practically wash my dishes in the sink before putting them in the dishwasher, otherwise there would be food particles or a dirty film left all over everything.  And the old dishwasher was very loud.  Also, after only 5 years, the racks had a significant amount of rust, which was my main reason for buying a replacement.  With my new Samsung, I only have to rinse the food off the dishes; I don't have to scrub them with soap and a brush before loading.  I have noticed that if I choose the auto select cycle as opposed to the heavy or normal wash cycle, one or two items don't get completely clean.  Otherwise, the Samsung is working like a charm! A very quiet charm!  

The only negative thing I have to say is that the bottom rack was not designed very well for loading lots of dishes.  Maybe it was their goal for the consumer to load lots of plates, however, the plate slots are either too close together or the tines need to be altered slightly.  My plates tend to fall forward after I load them, and I find myself skipping spaces in between the plates to compensate for this dysfunction.  Otherwise, I'm very pleased with my purchase.   


Maybe Samsung needs to hire me to help them design a bottom rack for their new models.  :)

Do you have a name for you car?

Do you have a name for you car? I do.

This is Libby.

My 2006 Jeep Liberty.

Libby wasn't exactly my first choice when I bought her.  I was really in the market for a two seat convertible, but I couldn't find one that met all my criteria at that time.  And usually, God's choice for me is better than what I have in mind.

What were my criteria, you may ask...

Number 1: It had to be an automatic.  No, I can't drive a stick shift.  After years of trying to learn and being yelled at by everyone who tried to teach me, I decided I was done with that whole experience.  Automatic transmissions were invented for people like me in the first place.  But I digress.

Number 2:  It HAD to be a convertible.  I have always wanted a convertible.  I LOVE the sun and wind in my face! The closest I ever came to owning a convertible was a Nissan Maxima that had a sun roof.  I drove with that thing open all the time.  

Number 3: The payments had to fit into my budget (which is always tight).

Number 4: It could not be more than 5 years old.  And,

Number 5: It could not be white.  I've had a white car, and I never want another one.  I know people who will only buy white vehicles.  I don't get it.  I'm not a vanilla kind of person.  And please don't get me wrong; I'm not knocking you if you like white cars or vanilla ice cream.  They just aren't for me.  But ain't it cool that we're all different and that there are so many choices for all of us?!

Okay, where was I?  Oh yeah, . . .

After searching for a couple of months, I was not having any luck.  I had to do something quick because the car I was driving at the time (Maxie, my Nissan Maxima) was starting to have issues that were going to cost more than she was worth.  And then one day, I happened to see this cute little Jeep on a car lot on my way to work.  Something about it spoke to me and I decided that if I couldn't find my convertible, I was going to buy a Jeep.  I researched it, and then I test drove one.  And I LOVED the way it drove!  And so one Saturday as the Hubs and I were perusing every car dealership within a 60 mile radius, we happened upon Libby.  She met all my criteria (except for the being a convertible).   And while she was really supposed to be priced just outside my budget, we got her at a steal of a deal!  The newspaper had made a mistake in printing the sales price and the dealer was having to honor that advertised price.  The car lot was reimbursed the difference by the newspaper in free advertising.  Anyway, we wouldn't have known about it if we had not heard one of the salesmen talking about it to another man who was looking to buy it for his wife, but couldn't make up his mind.  As soon as he left, we asked if we could get the same deal - we were ready to buy.  And just like that Libby was mine!

She's an awesome vehicle! You can park her almost anywhere.  She turns on a dime.  She has great get-up-and-go.  A true work-horse! And a great friend!  Yes, I said it.  Libby is my friend.  I depend on her everyday.  She takes care of getting me (and all my stuff) where I need to go.  She's great to take shopping!  We have driven Libby on most of our vacations that we have taken since we bought her.  We have had some great times together. She has heard me singing, laughing, yelling, and crying.  She has given me the best years of her existence.  (She just recently rolled over 100,000 on her odometer.)  If that's not a friend, I don't know what is.  And so, I say she deserves a name.

  And right now, she deserves a good detailing.

 

Purses are my Achilles Heel

At the beginning of March, I decided that because I was getting ready to spend a whole lot of money on updating my kitchen, I would challenge myself to refrain from spending money on anything other than gas and groceries. My March Madness. The only exceptions to this no-buy challenge were items for the kitchen update and going out for lunch.  Going out for lunch is something I do a couple of times a week, because I would go completely crazy if I didn't get out of that office every now and then.  I was really hoping to save some money and learn a few things about my spending habits.  This is what I learned:

1. I'm more of a shopaholic than I thought.
2. I spend a lot more money on going out for lunch than I should. 
3. While I have accomplished a lot of my financial goals over the last couple of years, like paying off my debts and building up my savings, I really need to implement a written budget.
4. If anything was going to make me fail on this challenge, it would be would be a purse.  What can I say?  They are my Achilles' Heel.

 In all fairness, the purse I bought only cost $17.00.  And I bought it to replace the purse that I was using that I absolutely LOVED!!  In fact, I LOVED it so much that I had been using it pretty much every day for the last 8 months.  That is rare for me.  I currently own over 20 purses.  And I'm apt to switch them out with the season, or with my outfits, or for different occasions, or with my mood.  There is no rhyme or reason with me.  Ask my Hubs, once you think you got me figured out, I go and do something completely out of character.  Ooops, got of track there. Anyway, I bought it to replace a purse that I had been using for the past 8 months.  I had used it so much that the vinyl was wearing off of the corners.  And heaven knows any self-respecting fashionista would never be seen with a ragged purse!  

This was my old purse. 

Don't you just LOVE it?!! It was perfect for me! It was just the right size.  I loved the buckle detailing; so cute!  It was just the right color.  I love my purses to be bright and colorful.  It had outside pouches that were perfect for my iPhone and lipsticks.  It had four inside compartments; one side for my wallet and checkbook; one side for my note book and pen; the zipper pouch in the middle was great for my lotion, hand sanitizer, tissue, and pill box; and there was a small zipper pouch on one side that was easy access to my keys and pocket knife.  (Yes, I carry a pocket knife.  Every woman should.)  This purse was an organized woman's dream purse.  So you could see why I was reluctant to part with it, even if it had a couple of worn spots on the corners. 

This is my new purse.

It's as close a match as I was gonna get, unless by some miracle the outlet store where I bought the first one would stock an identical coral shoulder bag. (It wasn't happening; I had already checked.)  So, when I walked into my favorite thrift store and saw this coral Liz&Co purse staring at me from the racks, I just had to snatch it up!  It looked like it had never been used, and like I said, it only cost $17.00.  In some ways, this purse is even better than the one I was replacing.  It cost less, and it's a quality name brand.  It has one more outside pocket that provides even better access to my keys, and it has more inside compartments as well.  And even though it doesn't have the cute buckle detailing on the handles, I Love this purse too!!

There you have it; the results of My March Madness challenge.  I saved a bunch.  I learned a bunch.  And I only went off the wagon once.  For a purse.   

Okay, now you know my dirty little spending secret; purses are my Achilles Heel.  Do you have any spending weaknesses?  Come on; share! Confession is good for the soul!  

Kitchen Progess Report #2

So much has happened since my last kitchen update, and yet, so little work has actually been done.  Decisions have been made.  We decided to keep the sink in the island instead of moving it to the counter under the window.  What seemed like such a logical request to make my kitchen more functional was going to be a very complicated and expensive change.  To facilitate my request, I would have had to purchase a new sink base cabinet.  They do not make a standard sink base cabinet to fit the dimensions of the existing cabinets on that wall.  I could have bought a stock sink base cabinet, but it would have been 9 inches shorter than my existing cabinets.  The options were to have a 9-inch custom cabinet built for that space, or to redo the floor tiles to fill in the 9-inch gap after the other cabinets were removed.  I didn't think I would have enough spare tiles to redo the floor to make it match, and the other alternative was too expensive for my budget at this time.  Also, I would have lost a large upper cabinet because part of it would have hung over my sink.  The decision to leave my sink in its current position also put a kibosh on my plans to turn my island into a breakfast bar with stools. Because as my painter/design consultant put it, "Who wants to eat that close to the sink?"


The only structural change that has taken place (or will take place) in this re-model is that the one-foot lower cabinets on either side of the refrigerator were removed.  The refrigerator and the cabinets above it were moved one foot to the left and a two-foot lower cabinet with drawers was installed between the stove and refrigerator.  This will allow me to have a two-foot counter top next to my stove.  This kinda makes up for loosing the extra large work area I was hoping to gain with the breakfast bar.  (Kinda, but not really.) Also, the upper cabinet that was to the left of the refrigerator was moved over and joined with the upper cabinet to the right of the refrigerator.

BEFORE

AFTER

(Notice the cabinet drawer to the right of the stove.  It can't be opened all the way unless the oven door is open.  What a pain!!)

Like I said, so much has happened, and yet it seems that so little has been done.  After the decision was made about the cabinets, I went to Home Depot to purchase the only cabinet I would need.  The kitchen design consultant advised me to wait about two weeks before I made my purchase because the stock cabinets were scheduled to go on sale and would be 20% cheaper.  I'm all about saving money, so I waited.  And it's a good thing, cause when I went back and bought my cabinet, not only was it on sale, but they had a sale on installed counter tops.  So I was able to get an additional 10% off my granite counter tops! That was an overall saving of $350!  SCORE!!  I ordered the Uba Tuba granite counter tops and the company doing the installation came and made a template of my kitchen layout.  The installation date has been scheduled for May 9th.  I'm getting a little bit excited!

This is a picture of my new cabinet.  The drawers are wonderful!  I can now put all my large cooking utensils in the top drawer.  I may even be able to get organizing dividers!  Oh be still my OCD beating heart!  The old drawer I used for this purpose was much smaller; too small for dividers, so it always stayed junky, and hard to find anything.  The other disadvantage to the old drawer (which is to the right of the stove, and can be seen in the "after" picture) was that to open it all the way, the oven door had to be open.  That was a real pain, to say the least.  The other two drawers are perfect for storing my baking pans neatly.   Before, they were all crammed sideways into a one-foot cabinet and I usually had to pull everything out to get to the one pan I needed.  Did I mention that I like things to be stored neatly?

Finally, when Lowe's had an advertised sale on appliances, I researched the dishwashers, read the reviews, and made my choice.  I went with the Samsung 24-in built-in dishwasher with hard food disposer and stainless steel tub; Model #: DW7933LRASR.  It had the best reviews overall, and got very good ratings for being quiet.  So far, I'm happy with my choice.  I don't always have the best luck with appliances.  But I tried to be smarter than just buying the model that had the cheapest sales price this time.   I'll let you know in a few weeks if I'm still happy.

Well, that's all for now. My electrician (cousin) is coming tonight to install a couple of new lights.  I'll try to get that post on here for you this week. 

Searching for Perfection

Call it writer's bock, call it procrastination, call it searching for perfection.  Call it whatever you want, but whatever the label, "it" kept me from posting anything for almost four weeks now.  Wow! Four weeks! That's an eternity in Blogland!  It's not that I haven't written anything.  I have.  I have a few drafts that for one reason or another I simply haven't been comfortable posting.  I guess I call "it" finding perfection fighting perfectionism.  Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that I'm trying to get over it.  And the best way that I have found to get over "it" is to remind myself that I'm not performing brain surgery or attempting rocket science.  I'm not doing anything that is earth shattering, I'm just putting myself out there in written word.  If I get a good response, I'll do a happy dance.  If I don't, what difference does it make?  I may not be a professional blogger with a huge fan base or award winning ideas that get published in magazines. I need to quit comparing myself to those ladies.  They do an awesome job, and I enjoy following them and being inspired by them.  But I am who I am, and I do what I do, and if people get me, okay.  If they don't, what difference does it make? 

I have to remind myself why I started this blog:

1. To share the life lessons that I have learned, and also the ones God is still trying to teach me.  My life is full of ups and downs and sometimes it helps me to process things by writing it all out.  That way I can see where I've been and hopefully give me some idea of where I need to go or what I need to do next.  (It's a lot cheaper than therapy.)
2. I hope to help or possibly inspire others with the stories of my successes and even my failures.  It always helps me when I hear other peoples' accounts of how they coped with some of the same issues that I am dealing with.
3. And finally, to record my family's everyday life events for our future generations.  

I also have to remind myself that only God is perfect.  And while I know that nothing I do will ever be perfect, if I keep my focus on Him, He will keep me in His perfect will.

So with all that being said, I will be retroactively posting things that I have written over the last couple of weeks.  Thanks to everybody who has asked me when was I going to post something new on my blog, or who inquired about the progress of my kitchen update or other projects.  Your loving persistence has encouraged and motivated me to get past my perfectionism funk.  I guess I do have a few fans!

Thank you for your support!
Love Evette

60 Day Goal Review

Well, it's more like a 65 day goal review, but here goes:

Home Projects: Kitchen update - I don't have anything new to report since my post And So It Begins, except that I found replacement cabinets at Home Depot that will match my existing cabinets.  However, I'm waiting until next week when they go on sale before I purchase what I need. A girl on a budget has got to save anyway she can.  GRADE - B (Bored with waiting!) 

Fitness: I have been just a little better than hit and miss on this goal.  I was doing good about attending class until the week of Valentine's Day when I missed both days; one due to class being cancelled, and one due to a very special date with my hubby.  And the week after that our instructor was sick one day and we had a threat of snow on the other day.  I got back on track, but missed another couple of classes due to illness.  I still haven't added a third day of working out on my own. Yet.  Did I ever mention that I'm not fond of exercise? I have also been hit and miss on taking my vitamins and I have only incorporated two or three really healthy meals into our menu the last month.  GRADE - D 

Financial:   I met with the manager of the brokerage firm where I have my IRA and we made some changes to how my investments are allocated.  But for now, I'm going to stick with just $50 a month being diverted from my paycheck to this account.  Since I am going to be dipping heavily into my savings to pay for the kitchen remodel, it makes more sense to allocate an extra $50 a month to the regular savings account than to my IRA. That way the savings account won't be completely depleted.  And after I get the savings account back up to the amount recommend by Dave Ramsey, I can revisit adding more to my IRA on a monthly basis.  So my financial goals have changed slightly, but overall, I'm still concentrating on increasing the amount I put into savings.  GRADE - A

February was not a good month for sales in my side business (antique/resale booth).  I spent more on inventory than I made in sales.  Still, I received a small commissions check even after my rent was paid.  However, this month I have challenged myself not to spend any money on anything other than groceries and gas.  See My March Madness post.  That means no new inventory purchases for the booth.  I'm just going to use things that I already have and finish a couple of my flea market flip projects to try to make a bigger profit this month.  Fingers crossed!!      

Personal:  Date nights with the Hubs have been going pretty good.  We haven't changed things up from our usual routine very much, but we have gone to the movie theater more than we normally do.  Also, we had a fantastic four course dinner at our favorite fancy restaurant for Valentines' Day.  A couple of the dates we have pulled from the date jar included going out to breakfast at a local coffee shop and spending a couple of hours shooting at an indoor gun range.  That was fun! Loud, but fun.  And I finally got to shoot my hand gun I got for Christmas a couple of years ago.  I'm excited for upcoming warm weather months, when I hope more of our dates will be outdoors.  I don't know about you, but I get a little stir crazy after a long winter.  GRADE - B+

Educational:  I have read and pinned a few things from Pinterest about photography and I actually took my Cannon out and played around with the F-Stop and ISO settings.  I tend to procrastinate when things don't come easy.  I keep praying that someday I'll have that magic light bulb moment and all the things that I don't understand about manual settings will just suddenly make sense.  Until then, I'm still having fun taking pictures with my i-phone. GRADE - L (for Lazy)

Dreams:  As for my blogging efforts, I'm happy to say that I'm on-track!  I have published at least one post for every week since January 10, the day I posted New Year - New Goals. Currently, I have six followers of my blog, and according to the stats, I have over 1,000 page views!  Many of my friends and family have linked up through Facebook and given me feedback and encouragement.  It's all very exciting!  GRADE - A

Spiritual: Something that I didn't include in my New Year - New Goals post was my spiritual goals for the year.  I told myself that it was because that was too personal.  That those goals were just between me and God.  The truth is that I was afraid.  Afraid of people thinking that I was trying to preach to them or shove Christianity down their throat.  So I hid my light under a bushel.  But today, I was reminded that fear can block the flow of God's strength into me.  I don't want fear to keep me from being whom God intends me to be.  I believe with all my heart that the main reason for this blog is for me to share what God has done and is doing in my life.  If I can share just one thing that the Lord has taught me on life's journey that will help someone else, then I will know that God's purpose for me was met.  That is how I will measure my success.  Not by how many page views I get or how many people follow this blog.  If I never make a dime from this venture it will not matter as long as I am serving Jesus Christ.  Whew! With all that said, my spiritual goal for this year is to share God's Love on a more personal level.  While I may share some of the ways God is helping me to reach this commitment, I will not be grading myself on this goal.  I tend to be critical of myself, and a critical spirit is not of God.  "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." John 14:27  

How about you?  Are you still on track with your new year's resolutions/goals? Is anybody else as OCD as I am?

From Dated to Devine

This is what my dining room looked like up until last summer. 

And so it begins...

Steps for Kitchen Remodel: 
 
Step # 1: Number and label all the cabinet doors and and their  
                  corresponding cabinet.

Okay, actually it's something more like Step # 445.  I didn't list all the planning, and scouring the internet for kitchen ideas, and calling everyone I know to get references for painters, plumbers, carpenters and electricians, and actually calling all those referred people to give me estimates, and running all over West-Tennessee to price materials, as steps in this kitchen update; but they were VERY important steps none the less.  No, I just decided to start my list of steps with the beginning of actual physical labor being accomplished.

Step # 2:  Rearrange my cabinet contents and purge A LOT of stuff. 

I really started doing this a few weeks ago, but I got serious about it last night.  And as the Hubs said as he walked in on me in full-on rearranging craziness, "You're messing with the whole system now."  Yep Honey, that's the plan!  I wish I had taken pictures of what the inside of the cabinets looked like before I started rearranging, but honestly, as a person who prides herself on being organized, I would have been too embarrassed. Now, because I have decided to have glass panels inserted into a couple of my doors, I needed to stage those cabinets not only to be functional, but pretty as well.

Please forgive the quality of the photos; I was working at night and just used my iphone to snap some quick pictures instead of pulling out the DSLR camera and trying to set up a whole perfect lighting scenario.  Anywho, I removed the doors to the cabinets where I will have the glass paneled doors installed and organized all our everyday green dishes in there.  I also added my white ramekins and a milk glass basket for a little interest.  These cabinets formally housed all my Tupperware bowls and other plastic storage containers.  It was organized, but not very pretty.  So I had to shift things from other cabinets to accommodate the plastic stuff.  You might be asking why I didn't just move all the plastic stuff to the cabinet I took my green dishes from.  Well, I have a very good answer for that.  That cabinet still houses a bunch of our other everyday dishes, just not the pretty matching ones.  I know.  I know.  I should just get rid of all those other dishes; and eventually I will.  But for now, I just can't afford to replace them.  And they serve a particular function.  And I'm trying not to go too crazy with getting rid of things.  Is that enough excuses?  Yeah, well it's a process.


Step #3:  Remove the cabinet doors above the refrigerator.

Another home blogger that I follow did this in her kitchen makeover and I really liked it.  Instead of having a hard to access cabinet that hides stuff that I don't need; by removing the doors, I now have another display cabinet for some of the lovely things that I need but don't use very often.  Before I started this purging, I didn't realize how much stuff I was squirreling away.  As organized as I like to think that I am, I'm still a little bit of a pack-rat.

Okay! That's enough for now.  I really wish I could keep going, but that's all I was able to accomplish last night.  Well actually, I did get one other thing done.  I had another contractor (my uncle) come over and give me a second opinion about moving the sink.  His verdict - it can be done.  With enough money, anything is possible.  And I'm probably gonna have to loose an upper cabinet, and it may not be aesthetically pleasing to anyone but me; but if that is what I truly want and I'm willing to pay for it; don't let anybody change my mind.  We shall see. 

Bunnies vs. Zombies

My Hubby is a big fan of the t.v. series The Walking Dead.  Me, not so much.  In fact, I just don't get the whole fascination with zombies.  Or vampires either for that matter.  The sound effects alone give me the heebie jeebies.  And just watching 5 minutes of the "undead" can give me nightmares for weeks.  Okay, I know, I'm a wuss.  

Anyway, the other night when his zombie show came on, I do what I always do when the zombie show is on; I disappear to another part of the house.  I didn't feel like cleaning, so I went down to the basement to see what I could get into.  I had recently stripped a grapevine wreath of it's old dirty flowers and it was just crying out to be turned into a new spring/Easter wreath.  So, I started rummaging through the boxes of my floral supplies and came up with some Forsythia stems, Hyacinths, orange Gerber Daisies, and some ivy.  Also, I had this cute wooden bunny that had retired with the rest of my country decor.  What better to stick on an Easter wreath than a bunny?  Well, after an hour of wielding the hot glue gun and floral wire, this is what I came up with.  

Kinda cute, don't ya think? 

In my book, 

bunnies beat zombies every day of the week!  

Happy Spring Y'all!

If you have a spring or Easter wreath that you're pretty proud of, send me picture.  Just link it up in the comments.

My March Madness

Last year I started following a blog called "Bye Buy Clothes" by Rebecca Kohler. She challenged herself to buy no clothes, shoes or accessories for a full calendar year. Her aim was to rethink her fashion choices and to save money.   Not only could she not buy any clothing for herself, in her challenge she could not buy any clothing or accessories for any of her family members either.  Her children are grown, so it was a little easier than if she had school aged kiddos.  And it gave her husband and college age son a chance to shop for themselves.  She succeeded on a grand scale.  I think she learned a lot about herself and a few valuable life lessons as well.

Anyway,  I thought I would follow her example by taking on the same challenge for the month of March.  My goal isn't so much geared toward fashion lessons, but to save money. Because I'm getting ready to update my kitchen, and because I'm on a very tight budget, it makes sense to save as much as I can in other areas.  I'm actually extending my no spend goal to include everything except for groceries and gas.  This is not going to be easy!  Some people might say that my idea is madness!!

I was really put to the test over the weekend.  My twin nieces had asked me to be a chaperone on a trip to a band competition they had on Saturday.  They competed in ensemble pairs and trios.  After the competition we went to the mall for lunch and the kids were given an extra hour to hang out and shop before we all had to load back up on the bus for the return trip home.  It's hard for me to deny them anything.  Thank goodness they had their own money!  But you know, you can still have fun shopping even if you don't buy anything.

Me and my crazy nieces!

We had a blast trying on these novelty sunglasses at Claires.  And thanks to my iphone, we have lots of pictures to remember the fun.     

So what do you think, is my March savings plan doable or complete madness?  Have you ever set yourself a similar savings goal?

Kitchen Progress Report

I don't think I realized how slow paced this re-modeling thing is.  I have been talking about updating our kitchen since before Christmas, and now March is already here and not one cabinet door has been removed.  Not one piece of tile has been laid.  Not one drop of paint has been spread. 

But I have gotten: 

1. Four estimates on counter tops; 
2. One estimate on moving some of my cabinets and adding trim work; and
3. One estimate for painting the cabinets.

Unfortunately, I also had my hopes of moving the sink under the window and closer to my dishwasher dashed into a thousand tiny little pieces.  That also puts a kibosh on turning the island into a breakfast bar.  Some nonsense about having to replace the base cabinets where I wanted to put the kitchen sink and having to loose the upper cabinet.  It's just more than my budget will allow, unless I want to use laminate counter tops instead of granite. (Heaven forbid!!)  Such are the plans of mice and decorating women.  On the other hand, the Hubs is happy that there will be less demo and that pretty much means we will stay on budget. 


Okay! Enough of the gloomy Gus stuff.  Let me tell you what I am happy about.  I have found a granite that I really like.  It's affordable.  It will pair nicely with the ivory paint and black glaze that I chose for my cabinets, while still tying in with my existing green and cream checker board ceramic tile floor.  Wow! That's a lot of expectations for one hunk of granite!

It's called Uba Tuba.  Isn't it lovely?!  

I really wish you could see all the colors in this stone.  It actually has a little bit of a green undertone which, as I said, will tie in nicely with my existing floors.  Tearing up that ceramic tile floor and replacing it was just never an option for me.  

For the record, that is not one of my cabinet doors.  It's just a sample that they had at the counter top place.  But it does give you an idea of what I'm aiming for.  I Love, Love, Love the contrast! 

Finally, I have narrowed down my choices for the faucet, lighting, and hardware.  I also pretty much decided on the tile for my back splash.  But I'll save that for another day.

What are your "under construction" stories?  Have you ever started a remodel project with specific ideas in mind, only to be told that what you wanted wasn't structurally possible or affordable?   
 

This is my kitchen...

This is my kitchen.

I know, it's kinda 1990's. 

Ok, it's a lot 1990's.

The Hubs and I have lived in this house for almost 17 years, and while we've purchased stainless steel appliances, the only other things we have done in the kitchen was to remove a wallpaper boarder, slap on a fresh coat of paint, and install ceramic tile floors.  However, my major home improvement goal this year is to bring this kitchen into this decade.

For months I have scoured the HGTV web site, DIY blogs, home improvement magazines and Pinterest for inspiration.  I have decided on the cabinet color, and pretty much the material I want for the counter tops.  The Hubs and I have discussed moving the sink so that it will be more accessible to the dishwasher and changing the island to incorporate bar stools.  There are a couple of other ideas I have bouncing around in my head, but I don't want to spoil all the surprises.  Did I mention that I'm on a pretty tight budget?  Yeah, well aren't we all?

I had my cousin, who's an electrician/plumber, come over on Saturday to discuss some of my ideas and look at the wiring and pipes.  He gave me a thumbs up on the work I want done and an estimate on the cost.  Okay! One step forward!  I had also lined up my brother-in-law, a cabinet maker/finish carpenter, to come over on Monday for his input/estimate, but alas the stars did not align.  We've rescheduled for Saturday.  Hopefully no other issues will arise and I will have more to post next week.

If you have updated your kitchen recently, I'd love to hear about your choices for materials and if you are happy with the results.

Flea Market Flip

I found two of these great chairs at my local flea market last year around Thanksgiving.  I thought with a wee bit of TLC they would be sweet little gems to flip and sell in my antiques booth.














You can tell they were kinda used and abused in their former life.

After I removed the seat and back, I sanded the body with some 80 grit sandpaper.  The original metal had a coat of silver paint and it was flaking and grungy.  I had a spray can of oil rubbed bronze paint that I bought last summer to update some hardware in my bathroom, and that's what I used to give these bad boys a little update.  And I thought oil rubbed bronze was a better match for the fabric I chose.

Don't you just love the pop of green 
and the bold print in this material?!

I'm also a sucker for anything paisley.  I used this same material to update the cushions on my dining room chairs last year.  Believe it or not, I actually bought this material at Wal-Mart.  I added some new batting to cushion the seat and back.  And I used oil rubbed bronze tacks to attach the back flap which covers up all the ugly guts of my reupholstering.

I think they have a kind of modern vibe and yet they still look kind of classic.  The best of both worlds!

















And don't you think they would make a perfect pairing with the little Duncan Phyfe coffee table that I up-cycled a couple of weeks ago?

Do you have a flea market flip that you're especially proud of ?

Comfort Food

I made chicken and dumplins the other night.

 Is there any more comforting comfort food than chicken and dumplins? 

 I think not.

 And I'm a southern girl, so no Yankee drop dumplings for me.  My grandmother, Tommie, taught me how to make dumplins, and in her book all dumplin dough had to be rolled out,

and cut in strips

 and cooked one layer at a time.

While I would like to say that being a good southern cook is a talent that every woman in my family is born with, it just ain't so.  It took me years to finally learn the secret to good corn bread.  And my homemade biscuits, well that's a story for another time.  Anyway, the first time I made dumplins on my own, I was 18 years old and living 600 miles away from my Tennessee home. I followed the recipe on the Bisquick box for dumplings but I rolled them out and cut them in strips like my Tommie taught me.  But when they were done, my dumplins were about the size of a nickel and it was more like dumplin soup.  So what did I do?  I did what any self-respecting southern girl would do. I called crying to my grandma.

"Tommie, my dumplins didn't dumple!" 

"What do you mean?" 

"They didn't dumple.  They fell all apart!"

"Baby, did you stir them dumplins?" 

"Well, yeah.  They were stickin to the bottom of the pan." 

"You were cooking them too fast, and you can't stir dumplins.  You have to shake the pot." 

Lesson learned. 

Now, my dumplins are almost as good as her's.  Almost. 

Did I mention that my grandma Tommie was the best southern cook of all time? She was.  Just ask anybody that ever ate at her table.  And trust me, that's A LOT of people.  She was also the wisest woman I ever knew.  She went home to be with the LORD over 20 years ago.  I still miss her A LOT.  But I think of her every time I cook dumplins.  And chocolate chip cookies.  And well, a lot of things.  She taught me so much about cooking.  And life.  And family.  And love.  Comfort food.  

30 Day Review

It's been a month since I started (or re-started) this blog thing.  Thirty days since I posted my goals for this year.  Thirty days. . .

Let's review how I'm doing.

Home Projects: Kitchen update - While we haven't started any demo or actually purchased any materials yet, I have made some decisions on design elements.  The next step is to schedule a couple of contractors to come in and give us estimates.  I'm trying to learn not to rush things.  GRADE - B-

Fitness:  I cancelled my gym membership.  It's a good thing, cause I really needed to save that $40 a month especially since my paycheck is about $40 lighter now thanks to government tax reform.  But I have started attending a Pilates class two days a week.  So far, I'm actually enjoying it.  Well, for someone who HATES to exercise, I'm getting close to actually enjoying it.  The first 20 minutes of cardio is not too bad.  I can do most of the moves without looking like a total uncoordinated freak.  And the last 20 minutes of stretching really is enjoyable to me; even if I'm not as limber as I would like to be.  I'll get there!  It's the middle 20 minutes that is really kicking my butt!  Our teacher switches up the routines and I can tell this is the part that makes me use muscles that thought they were on permanent vacation.  They are trying to revolt.  No pain, no gain. Right?  GRADE - B

The lady who teaches the class is a personal trainer/nutritionist whom I am helping with organizational goals.  We're trading services for now.  And she has already referred my services to another of her clients, so that's helping out with my financial goals as well. 

Financial: So far, I've only started putting $50 a month into my 401K.  I need to meet with the manager of the brokerage firm to discuss changing up some things before I bump up my bank draft another $50.  Again, I know this doesn't sound like a lot, but it's an attainable goal for now. GRADE - B-

Also, I have been putting a lot of time and effort into the side business my mom and I got involved with last November.  We started a booth at our local antiques/re-sale mall.  It has been a wonderful way of letting go of  items that I no longer use to decorate my home, while recouping some cash.  I've up-cycled some of our flea market finds, as I posted about in "New Projects" and this has given me a great creative outlet as well as money making opportunities.    

Personal:  I have concentrated on making date nights with the Hubs more of a priority and trying to change things up from our usual routine.  We had an amazing time attending a local basketball tournament which I wrote about under the post "Date Night Success".  And while we have had more "regular" dates, I think we have upped our communication level another notch.  However, we have kinda slacked on pulling sticks from the date jar.   Sometimes life just happens, and you take what you can get.  GRADE - B-

Educational:  Currently, I have not taken any steps to increase my photographic skills.  I got a new i-phone a couple of weeks ago, and well, it's just so easy to take pictures with my phone and post them to Facebook, that I haven't even taken my Cannon out of it's case.  GRADE - D (for Distracted)

Dreams:  As for my blogging efforts, I'm happy to say that I'm on-track!  I have published one post for every week since January 10, the day I posted "New Year - New Goals".  Currently, I have five followers of my blog, and many of my friends and family have linked up through Facebook and given me feedback and encouragement.  It's all very exciting!   GRADE - A

But really, the most exciting thing to me is that for the first time in a long time I feel like I am being the person God has created me to be.  For the past couple of years, I have dealt with a lot of grief and anger.  So much so that I didn't feel like myself.  I felt lost.  And as such, I was paralyzed to move forward with projects or plans or dreams.  I felt like I was just existing.  I lost much of my faith and hope.  But God never let me go.  He has plans for me.  Plans for my future.  Plans that give me hope.  And though this blog, maybe I can share some of that hope.

Thanks for reading and God bless!
   

I'm on a roll . . .

I finished another project! Whoop-Whoop!!

One of my new year's resolution goals was to finish all the left over projects of 2012.  The challenge was really to finish ALL of my left over projects before I started any new projects in 2013.  All I can say is that a leopard cannot change her spots overnight, or in the course of one month for that matter.

Since January 10, I have:

1. Painted a table to put in my antiques booth;
2. Re-placed a lamp switch (which has been broken for about a year);
3. Re-strung a bracelet that broke at church sending beads flying everywhere;
4. Created a Valentine's wreath from flowers that I have had in storage for   approximately 4 years; and
5.  Finished making a framed chalkboard for the kitchen at my office!!

I actually started this project about 6 months ago.  I know, I know, it's a project that I should have done in one weekend.  But in all fairness, I started this project while I was right in the middle of up-cycling my dining room table and chairs.  And that project was by far more of a top priority.  Anyhow, I started with this enormous picture frame that I rescued from the side of the road.  It was a little warped, but for a freebee it would work just fine.  I have a full-time job as a judge's secretary and we had just updated our office's kitchen/break room with a fresh coat of paint.  And we had plenty of paint left over for me to play with.  I bought a piece of thin lewan at Lowe's and had them cut the board to the frame's opening measurements.  I then applied three coats of a magnetic paint that I had bought on clearance at Wal-Mart.  After the third coat, I tested the surface to make sure a magnet would stick and it did!  So off I went to shop for chalkboard paint.  Chalkboard paint ain't cheap. And then a friend told me she preferred the chalkboard spay paint over the kind that you brush on.  It was less expensive, but I'm really not good at spray painting.  So then so I was stuck in the land of indecision.  I'll think about it tomorrow.  By then, I had Thanksgiving and Christmas to think about.  Finally I bought the spray paint, but then I had to wait for the weather to warm up.  I applied one coat of spray paint, and it looked horrible.  I told you I'm not good at spray painting.  Weeks went by before I finally broke down and bought the expensive can of chalkboard brush on paint.  It was worth it.  I brushed on two coats quickly and evenly.  It looked much better.

At long last, the end was in sight!  All I had to do to finish was to find my glazing points and insert the finished board into the frame and attach a hanging wire.  But I couldn't find my glazing points.  I looked in every logical place I would store glazing points; no luck.  I had lost my patience.  I was ready to have this thing done and out of my house!  I figured my handy dandy staple gun would work just fine.

It worked.  Too well.

 

But. . . after a trip to Hobby Lobby and $2.50 worth of cording. . .

I finally have a finished chalkboard!

I'm on a roll . . .