Simon's birthday

I'm accepting 2 things today.

1 - My baby doesn't sleep though the night.
2 - He's turning 1 soon.

Here's what I made him last night.

What spray paint can do...

Today I decided to spray paint the bench on my front porch. The bench was really drab..It was weather wood, and not in a good way... Went to walmart and bought a 2 dollar can of spray paint and here's the results:



My next project is this adirondack chair on my back deck... made of the same icky wood that was that bench above. I think I'll do this one white.

Great day

Had a great day with my boys today!! We had to go to the Apple store to fix my iphone, which I was CERTAIN was going to cost me a fortune. Well... they fixed it free!! And we were able to play in a sprayground and partake in some Ben and Jerry's. My little guy was over the moon with excitement and went to bed ridiculously tired. Mission accomplished.

Some things on my mind:

1. Trying not to think about the fact there are no new LOST's to watch... :(
2. Still ruminating on what to wallpaper in my house. I think I'll start this project this week.
3. I've decided to paint an outdoor bench I have on my front porch to make it look like it belongs there a little more. What color? suggestions? I'll post pictures tomorrow.

A few things from the antique fair

Moderate success at the antique fair today. Here's what I got! I think I'll be returning tomorrow afternoon to see what's left. :)

RIP fruit stand

I got this fruit stand in one of those great moments at Ross when you see a red sticker placed on top of the original price. I quickly threw in the back of the car and was thrilled. My husband looked at it inquisitively and asked what it was. I placed the bananas in it, and voila!! A great distressed piece in an apple green to match the rest of my green/yellow decor. Well.. today I report, with much sadness (seriously.. I'm a little upset)... that it is broken. Like REALLY broken. My little stinker crawled over to it with glee and pulled it over as I watched in horror from the other side of the room as the fruit tumbled out and he grinned with delight. I took this picture of it before it broke. RIP fruit stand.

Some photos of the Chile I seldom get to see....

These were taking in the southern region of the country...

cutest things

This is one of them... don't you think? Is there anything cuter than baby toes???

Southern Living Mousse Cake

I wanted to share this delicious and EASY cake I made a while back ago. I believe it's from Southern Living magazine. It's a mousse layer cake with entertaining crakers lining the sides of it. The middle layer of this cake is white chocolate... It was to die for good!!! And it's no bake! Here is the end result.

mirrored kitchen cabinets

This is interesting and I've never seen this done before. What do you think? Like? dislike? Would I really want to see myself every time I go for a dish?? (house beautiful magazine)

several things on my mind today...

And in no particular order:

1. How much cash should I allow myself to spend at the antique fair this weekend. There are several things I 'need.' And nevermind all the things I don't need....

2. Which part of my house I should wallpaper without my husband freaking out about it...so basically a place he doesn't go.... or look too hard. I have a great brand new roll that is blue with silvery leaves that I got at target on the clearance rack years ago for like 3 bucks. Pictures to follow.

3. The end of Lost. ugh.

4. How I'm going to survive the chaos of 2 boys, one a baby, for 3 weeks while my husband is away on business. I guess I'll wallpaper something.

Switching gears... let's talk babies

My kids are 3.5 yrs apart and my youngest is now 9 months. In that short little age gap new baby things that we 'need' have sprung up in the market like weeds. There's the hooter hider (which I do have and did use).. that is until my baby got old enough to rip it off his face like he does now. So now it's pretty pointless and my boob is usually out there for the world to see. Then there is the miracle blanket that is supposed to 'miraculously' put your baby to sleep. Um.. mine still got up every hour, even wrapped up like king tut.

But Here is my number 1 pick of what I haven't been able to live without for baby number 2. A lovey dud. I suppose it's really a moby wrap with fancier fabric. But who doesn't want to be fancy? I sure do.

laying the floor in the basement

My husband did this himself as well. I found the exact floor that we want and square footage by a stroke of luck on craigslist! We bought about 25 boxes of wood composite pergo from a man that had extra from his project. After laying down the moisture barrier tarp and subfloor, he installed the floor. Here are some pics.

blog picture

The picture on the top of my blog is an actual picture that I took! Not a wallpaper.. even though it looks like one. This was taken in the south of Chile with the volcano Villarica in the background. Side note - my husband climbed tha volcano.. I sat by the pool. :)

Master bedroom and office

I tend to gravitate towards greys and warm colors... strange I know. But both our office and bedroom have gray-ish tones to them. The office shelves, cubbie shelf and cork board are all from home goods. I love that store. It's decor on a budget.

The master bedroom is 'Manhattan Mist' from home depot. A target headboard and Marshalls bed set round out the look. The mirror birds are from Home Goods.. i couldn't resist.

my kitchen during and after

Here are two more pictures our kitchen in the middle of painting and my husband recoving our island with beadboard. We also took down 2 floating cabinets and added open white shelves with black brackets. You can also see the updated glass doors too. During and after....

some before pics I found

I was poking around in my photos and I found these before photos. These are the theater chairs that my husband refinished and cleaned up. Here they are in all their 'before' glory.. dirty and stained fabric. And then the after again...

The boys' bathroom

This bathroom had butterflies and fairies in it when we moved in. Even if it had been neutral, i would have had to redo it... because that's just the way I am. I bought the shower curtain first... at pottery barn kids (the outlet). Then my husband came up with the idea to add a top stripe to match the curtain. He also designed the tile floor with the mosaics and layed it himsef. Enjoy!

Nursery

I was so excited to redo the nursery for my second boy. I decided on a sailboat/vintage boat theme. My mother is a seamstress and made the my valance and a throw pillow on the chair out of some vintage child boat fabric I scored on ebay. The boat shelf on the red and blue cubes I bought at a yard sale for 4 dollars. The peg shelf above the changing table I purchased at the Antique Fair in Lucketts last year. Oh.. and the changing table I bought on craigslist for 10 dollars when my first boy was born.

Spring Antique Fair In Lucketts

My favorite time of year... The annual Antique Fair in Lucketts. This weekend May 22-23 starting at 10am. I'll be there with bells on! Here are some fav's I've gotten in years past. The ladder was 10 dollars and I love it. I use it for magazines and I think it's grown on my husband who's face was agape originally when I brought it home.

guest room

My guest room has been painted 3 times... I couldn't make up my mind. :) I LOVE this room and it's one of my favorites. The armoire is an antique from my grandmother's house filled with an antique doll collection that I adore. The dresser is a GEM! I found that for 100 dollars at the annual Ladies Board Hospital Rummage sale in Leesburg, VA. PS- the decal is from etsy. I just love it.

My powder room

When we bought this house this poor bathroom was screaming for a makeover. It had a marroon flowered wallpaper that make the small spot look tiny. I started by steaming off all the paper and coming up with a new plan. I found a great stripped pattern in a magazine with a distressed look on the stripes. I also changed out the mirror and replaced the stardard faucet that was there with a matching one. BUT my FAVORITE piece in the bathroom has got to be the distressed green cabinet that I purchased at the Spring Antique Market in Lucketts, VA. I paid all of 15 dollars for it. New paper holder and towel ring and light complete the look.

and how it looks today

This is what it looks like now! Forgot to mention that I bought the bathroom sink on craigslit. Made a trip to DC to pick up this gem! The theatre now has 10 seats, 8 movie theater chairs and 2 leather recliners. The seats were purchased from a theater that was closing. We found this wonderful company in Kansas that makes custom slipcovers. We were able to pick out fabric and have them send it out to fit.. we threw in new armrests while we were at it.