not so special weekend ... perfection!

just needed a weekend with no plans ... we had been go go go for the last couple of months and work blew up for a couple of weeks {which i haven't fully recovered from} and i just needed to take a break from my life for a bit.  not really ... but with only a couple planned things it was nice to have a weekend where we could slow things down a bit.  

i'd like to say i got some quality excercise in ... but that was not the case.  

actually we moved things & cleared out the basement ... in preparation for our basement refinish project {one of these days i'll catch you up on all of that}. 

sunday the hubs gave me a few hours and i did what i do best ... did some shopping ... but happy to report i didn't blow the budget.  hauled my butt up to home goods where i found a corner shelf for the powder room ... it's in a dark purple but with the horrible lighting in that room you can't even tell ... and one of these weekends {likely in january} i'll paint it either an oil rubbed bronze or black.  the biggest score of the weekend was actually online shopping where i found a comforter for the master bedroom.  it wasn't at all what i was looking for and i hope when it comes i'll be happy but i love the colors and think it will look really nice in the winter with our coverlet, sheets, bed and current paint color.  here is a teeny tiny sneek peek.

it's more masculine than i thought i wanted but i am a sucker for plaid in the winter and again will look great with all of the other neutrals.   may just have to find some fun throw pillows to throw in a punch of color.

hope you had a great weekend!  

coffee break ...

source

happy november! 

wish lists ...

it's that crazy time of year when i'm trying to wrap up my holiday shopping & getting requests from the family on what the kids like ... and what they are "into" these days.  time to make sure our family wish list is up to date.  this is a tool that has saved me sooooo much time and reduced the number of redundant questions from our family. 


in the first few holidays together my husbands brother (a computer programmer) developed a online wish list software for just the family.  it was great you could put links to what you wanted and the family would fulfill those wishes on your birthday or christmas.  now for those of you that say that's impersonal or then you know what you're getting so it's not as spontaneous ... i say peashaw  ...  i have long endured years of not getting what i wanted and about 25% of the time that was ok ... i liked what i got ... but the other 75% of the stuff ended up at goodwill.  {sorry guys but it's true}

all was good until my brother-in-law and his wife moved to the country ... that doesn't have reliable internet.  so i had to go out in search of an online wish list service for our family.  in the first year i tried out a few ... and there were things that i was looking for ... for sure.  but there is one service i have used for the last few years ... wishpot.

it's great ... i only need one log-in and i can make as many wish lists as i need.  everyone in the family has one and i've shared the log-in information with the hubs because he's always delinquent in getting me his wishes.

now i also have some "store specific" wish lists to add to throughout the year ... so when i'm feeling impulsive i look at what i've been wanting and then when it comes time to building wish lists for the family ... bam ... i'm ready to go.  some of my fav's are:

• amazon
• pottery barn
• nordstroms {btw they are doing a sweepstakes to win $5k if you sign up & send to a friend}

do you use a wish list service?  is there one out there that you like?   do your family and friends buy off of a wish list you set up? 

coffee break ...

source

happy halloween! 

gettin' crafty: spooky sign

ok ... have you ever had the project you found in a magazine years ago ... you ripped out the page and put it in a book and said "someday i'm going to make this"?  well here's one of those projects for me.  

inspiration photo & directions

i'm not going to take all credit for this project ... i needed the hubs to make the raw signs for me and wanted to find an old porch post to use ... but that didn't exactly happen.  we found a porch post at lowes & the sign was made out of scrap wood from previous projects.  i'm not that great at keeping track of costs but i think all of the supplies were about $60.  

once hubs constructed all of the large pieces it was my job to prime (i just used a spray primer since i didn't care if the finish was rough) and do the color wash ... i was surprised how easy it was - i went to home depot and bought 3 indoor/outdoor samples of paint:  creme, dark grey and a dark brown, then i just googled how to color wash and i think it was a 5x1 ratio of water to paint. 

the lettering was my most feared step ... i created the wording (with the fonts i wanted to use) in word and sent them to hubs who threw it into auto cad so we could see sizing and spacing.  he then took it to a copy shop and had it printed on full scale paper (less than $5).  We just lined it up on the distressed wooden sign and used carbon tracing paper to outline all of the words.  then i took a regular sharpie and outlined all of the letters.  i'd planned to paint inside the letters but it was just easier to color inside the letters with the sharpies.  (side note: i did see that michaels is now selling sharpie paint markers and i would have tried them but black was sold out so i just used a normal old sharpie)

and voila ... here's how my sign looks on our front porch!  not too bad right?  so if i can do it anyone can do it! 

we opted to secure to one of our posts - just in case one of the neighborhood kids tries to climb on it.  :)  i know no crows yet and i wanted to do cheese cloth drapes on the porch as well ... but haven't gotten to that - but hey i figure i'll need something else to do next year, right??

happy halloween week ... 

what i'll be doing this weekend ...

hard to believe it's the last weekend for fall football for my little guy ... we'll miss it!

have a good weekend!

just read: "All the money in the world ... "

i just wrapped up a book that i really got a lot out of!!  to be honest it's something that i've been struggling with for years, but wasn't sure how to put my finger on it.  in the last year or so i've been doing so much self-reflection that i was able to articulate what i was struggling with:  "my seduction into the world of material things ... or keeping up with the executive jones'".  it became an issue for me when woke up to find all of my friends we're more focused on the car that you drive and the handbag you carry than anything else.  that wasn't how i had been raised?  honestly that really tugged at some of my core "thrifty" values.  but I was stuck ... i knew what my issue(s) really was but didn't know what to do about it. iI had read some of laura vanderkam's other books and saw that she had a new book out:  "all the money in the world:  what the happiest people know about getting and spending."  i knew i had to add it to my reading list.  

this book was just what i needed!!  it put into words questions i really needed to pose back to myself:

• what do the things you spend money on say about your values;
• how do you use your money to buy the things that are going to make you most happy; 
• how can you look at your job as something that brings you happiness AND income?

 and i was able to create an action plan for how to turn my situation and feelings around: 

• plan more family experiences - as studies show experiences make you happier than things;
• how do i teach my kids about money & happiness; 
• find a job that you would enjoy doing into retirement; don't look as work as sentence until the freedom or retirement; 
• look at our expenses and lower the frivolous spending, therefore lowering the dependence on my salary - as much. 

 one of the other things that i did while reading was to sit down and have a very long conversation with the hubs about his views of money & happiness and mine.  for the most part we're on the same page but again i could find my inner material girl and stray for a bit.  he, being the practical spender, was delighted (i think) to hear my new views on money and spending; however, he was not as delighted to hear that i resent the dependence on the size of my income - but he understands and we had one of the best "planning for the future" conversations we've had in a long time!  

i know i still have a lot of work to do and, quite honestly, a lot of habits to reverse.  but i'm up to the challenge and to be honest the last couple of weeks i've been happier and had more inner contentedness than i've had for a long time.  

thanks laura - great book!!! 

p.s.  i would recommend this book to anyone, but particularly kids coming out of high school or college ... in a few years my nephews are going to get copies.