Dream Kitchens

I'm day dreaming constantly of my next home. I really want to build a home and make all the choices on flooring and door knobs, lighting & tile. It sounds so fun, right? Except I'm terrified of choosing something & regretting it in 2 yrs. I've made that mistake with custom (insanely ugly & supposedly trendy at the time) sofas & was stuck with them for years. I really don't want to make a costly mistake again. So I've been pinning away on Pinterest.com. (if you don't know what that is- you're seriously missing out on some fun & time sucking action!) I figure in a couple months after I've collected all a bunch of pins, I'll see a few reacurring themes and know for sure that I must really like that tile or style. Here's what I've been busy dreaming of....
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I love the industrial lighting and stools. Gorgeous! I'm too afraid to do open shelves though. I'm not so good at the accessorizing. I'm more of the "shove everything into the cabinet & shut the door & hope nothin' falls out of it" kinda girl.....

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This kitchen is just plain dreamy to me.... yellow bar stools (awesome right?) and the massive light fixture is a beauty. I want that light!

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I love how a kitchen can be new and still feel lived in with accents of history. The stools must have a story & I'm thinking those lights have been repurposed. Get the sense I like industrial?

This kitchen found here: You gotta check out the whole house tour. It's perfection! I'm loving the school house lights and the fun upholstered bench.

Sorry, I can't find the original owner of this picture! But I love the wood & tile floor. And the black wall is a really fun contrast! And the light..... well you know I super heart the light!

This is an actual kitchen, you know the ones that are used by multiple people and not just found in mansions. Yes- this is more realistic and also just fun! image found here: You better look at her whole house though- because she has some serious flair..... and I love a girl with flair! I love the cabinetry and hardware throughout this whole house. Its the details that make me love this house....

So as you can tell by all my pictures. I'm kind of obsessed with white cabinets. My husband wants stained wood so I think our center island will be the stained wood while the rest of the kitchen is white. It's a compromise, but one that will make our kitchen less boring too. Because I'm afraid of being boring!

Anyone had white cabinets? What's your opinion on them? Do you love them or hate them?

Infomercial Sucker

I have two kinds of best friends. Ones who bring me chocolate & diet cokes and ones who suck me into their cute packaging and exciting commercials. Marketing companies know just how make me give away my first born with their promises of younger fresher skin, perfectly toned thighs & antibacterial all natural cleaners. Yes, sadly, I am one of those people. The QVC, Home Shopping Network, Infomercial Sucker.

But on a good note, now I can give you my opinion on some of the products I've purchased and you can decide for yourself!

First off: The X5 Steam Mop
This X5 has worked pretty well for me. There are a whole lot more attachments & my sweet husband, who also loves a good infomercial, bought every. single. one! We've cleaned white shower grout. (well its white now!) We've cleaned our oven, steam cleaned all the tile floors and even done some blinds & windows with it. It does cook tops, grills and even carpet! I wasn't impressed with the carpet attachment though, it's definitely not the best whole carpet cleaner but it would work well on one spot of your carpet by using it without any attachments and soaking up the dirt with a dry white rag. I'd avoid using a colored rag as it may bleed onto your carpet. I didn't try it on my wood floor as I was too afraid to. We've had warping issues and I didn't want to risk it, but supposedly its meant for wood. It has temp adjuster that's basically hot, red lava hot & firework/carbomb hot... (Yeah, it's real high tech.) But overall, it has saved me some money in hiring someone to clean all my stubborn spots and I love it on my kitchen and bathroom floors. Long term though, I'm not sure how long it was built to last. But fortunately, I feel like I already got my moneys worth!

Next up: Cindy Crawford's Meaningful Beauty
I was a bit offended when my husband bought me a kit of face products. What? I have bad skin & you noticed? How embarrassing! But I was on a girls trip & he said "he missed me & wanted to buy me something I wouldn't buy myself to surprise me." How cute is that? Ok, not mad. Let's try it! I gotta say in 2 days I noticed my skin looked great. I don't even think I wore foundation! That's huge people! I kept it up for 3 weeks, but to be honest- it's a lot of steps for me. I'm more like a one step, possibly two if you catch me on a good day, step kinda girl. After 2 weeks I didn't notice much of a difference but I think I just got used to having good skin, so it was less noticeable? Don't know, but the products lasted me a long, long, time. Some I still never opened. I really like the night time cream & the glowing serum. Definitely my faves & I do recommend it. Just make sure you cancel the auto renew and just order what you like after your first shipment.

3rd impulse buy goes to: Billy Blanks Tae Bo

This is one tough workout and I highly recommend it. But Billy- please change your outfit and fix that awful awful music. The techno repeating "music" was torture. I had to mute it, once I memorized it & play my own jams. Yeah I said jams, I either sound like a 70yr old man now or someone in a lame band.....

Nuff about that lets move on to: My least favorite purchase, Tony Little's Gazelle

Who wouldn't want to buy this when you see this happy, perfectly fit woman? A Gazelle is a dainty deer like animal that is fast and light on their feet. I was supposed to feel light and airy. I was barely pregnant when I ordered this and thought it would work great for my hip problems during pregnancy. One movement on that & I was down for the count for 2 weeks. Don't try this when you're preggos. But after I was pregnant, I didn't think I was doing it right. It never seemed like a great workout, but it was fun. It's more like a fun toy. It was cheap, only around $100 but I feel bad because it took up so much room and every time I looked at it I felt very un-dainty Gazelle like..... I'd pass on this one folks

Ok- last on my list: The Michael Thurmond 6 week Complete Body Makeover

Remember that show Extreme Makeover? Is it on anymore? Anyway. It was amazing. It was unreal. They did plastic surgery, but still, alot of the time they did it on the face only and they transformed the rest of the body. It was unbelievable! I had to try it. It took a little bit of time to put it all together, taking a test on your body type which I'm still unsure if I got it right & then pulling out the right cards for that body type and putting it a book. The diet is hard people. It's alot of pre prep, constantly thinking about your next meal, work. But it is the healthiest I've EVER felt. All natural foods, eating all the time, and eating Xtremely healthy. It is the best diet I've ever done. And with that said. I haven't been able to be successful since the first time I've tried it, but I'm thinking its because it's dang hard & I haven't fully stuck to the program. It should work if you have motivation & your body will feel amazing. Your mood however, may not. I was a little grouchy on this diet. But that's how I feel without chocolate & diet coke. I need chocolate. Can anyone find a diet for me that includes some mint m&m's? Thanks, that would be great. Speaking of which, I just remembered my mom's diet growing up.... a handful of plain m&m's or semi-sweet choc chips before every meal. You know, as an appetite suppressor..... I'm not kidding. My mom had 7 children and looks fantastic. It worked for her. It's still shocking that us kids didn't end up diabetic. But the thing is, we ate all natural foods. We ate real sugar, sparingly (well not so much). But we also ate a TON of fruits and veggies and only a little meat. We ate fantastic. Real gourmet every night. Rarely ate out & weight was never an issue. I think its because we ate like this diet. (Minus the dessert after EACH meal- not kidding, EACH meal!) No powders & shakes, no packaged foods. Just natural good food. Michael Thurmond even allows white rice! So yes, if you have the will power, this diet is a good kick in the pants! I lost 7lbs the first week. 21lbs in 3 weeks! And I surprisingly kept it off.... until recently. Whoops....

So there you have my not so professional opinion on these products. Overall, I've been pretty happy with our late night shopping escapades. Hopefully you'll feel the same about these products if you try them..... Happy infomercial shopping.......Sucker! :)

Dear Younger Self

You know those people that say (think high pitched annoying voice) "if I could go back and do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing! All of my mistakes made me the person I am today!" Really? You wouldn't have listened to your mom when she told you to stay away from Randy- cause he's trouble? Cause he was you know.... Would you really have registered for classic Winnie the Pooh bathroom towels and shower curtain? Just sayin- cause I totally would NEVER do that :) Would you have really bought a house in 2008 to have the market crash in '09? Let's be honest, there are some mistakes & hairstyles we wish we could take back and on that note:

Dear Younger Self,

-Don't waste another second worrying about if everyone likes you. You don't really love everyone, so don't be that surprised if you can't make everyone love you!

-Remember 11th grade Calculus when the teacher told you to invest $100 every month from the age 18-25 and you'd have a million dollars when you reached 55. Yeah, you should've done that!

-You should've taken the photography classes in college. You thought they were too much money but you would've loved it and you could've saved yourself some really lame Sears portraits when your girls were babies. (No offense Sears- your kid on a chair with a sunset background was totally cutting edge)

-You need to relax as a new mom. It really won't hurt to leave the house with your child in a ridiculous costume because it makes her feel pretty. It would've saved you an hour long debate and 4 packages of fruit snacks & a ring pop promise....

-Journal more. Take more video- my babies were so stinkin' cute! Did I even realize how stinkin' cute they were?! Probably not because of sleep deprivation. I haven't slept 8 hours straight since the day I got pregnant with my first....

-Go on vacations before you have children. Why oh why did we not do this? Oh, yeah right.... we said we couldn't afford it. Guess what? You really can't afford it once you have kids!

-Take care of yourself physically. Don't go all stretchy pants & hubby t-shirts after having kids. Have girls night outs and force yourself to dress up every day! You feel better and look better and get more done, if you dress up a little....

-That ridiculous green plaid couch set that you had custom made- well lets just say you'll hate it 2yrs later but will be stuck with it for the next 8 years!

-If I could do it all over again. I wouldn't waste any time on being upset by 90% of what upset me. I would love more. I would definitely vacation more. I'd laugh more too. I'd hug my children & hubby more. And I'd smile more.

Good thing I have time to do all of this a little longer. The last 30 (maybe a wee more) years has taught me that I need to choose happiness. And if buying an orchid makes me happy, then do it. If planning getaways with my husband brings us closer together, do it. And do it more often. Surprise your kids with mini-dates. Write more love notes. And most important. Above everything else. Don't get started on Pinterest, you'll never want to get off!

selling my house

My house is on the market: I feel a mixture of complete relief to have some major projects completed and a sudden urge to vomit..... selling a house ain't pretty. It ain't for the lazy either. It is some dang hard work! But here are the online photos- sorry the quality isn't better- I didn't take them.

I hope someone loves my dark orange ceiling as much as I do.....

Seriously? I'm leaving this room just as I barely completed it? Seriously? When we painted those stripes we believed we would live here forever..... I will have to have a funky ceiling in my next home and black walls too and a funky light. Why am I leaving again?

Newly painted grey kitchen. It's official. I. Love. Grey. And I love to spell it with and E instead of A. I feel fancy.....

It took me awhile to come around to grey. It seemed cold to me. It was hard to leave brown and beige and red. But I'm ok. I'm hangin' with the cool kids now :)

This old window that hangs on this wall I've had for over 12 years. I put a James Blunt song lyric on it "there must be an angel, with a smile on her face, when she thought that I should be with you". I love it. Absolutely love it.

That chalkboard on the door is permanately attached. I will have to leave it behind. Sorry sis, it is lovely. Thank you for making it for me. Hope the next family writes love notes on it.....

We had to remove the mason jar chandelier. We definitely wanted to take it with us. Apparently, our realtor felt that others wouldn't "appreciate" it. OUCH! Some people just don't have awesome taste..... So they can have this boring fan. Have I ever told you how much I dislike fans? I feel like spiders are crawling on me as my hair wisps around. (eww, shudder)

My master bedroom/ media room/ living room. Our entire family lives here. We fold laundry, watch movies and literally spend 90% of our time in this 17x17 room. I hope that doesn't change in our new home.

I'm gonna miss Morgan's room too. It is a happy place. I still love the hot pink and polka dots and turquoise....

Taylor's room never got a makeover. It's still little girl and pink. She now hates pink. How sad! The fun swing though makes up for her room lacking in style. Not sure why the realtor wanted the mason jar chandy down and not this swing? Oh well, less work for us!

K's wall finally got finished. Just in time to sell. Nice.... (add sarcasm)

Game room- a little on the boring side.

Stair case wall gallery. What a complete pain in the tush to do..... but worth it if you ask me!
Ok- I've shown you almost every room in this house. I'm ok with moving on. Now someone come buy it- I can't keep up this ruse that I'm this clean!!!

Are you mint M and M worthy?

This is the letter I will be mailing the Mars company after I mauled a woman with my shopping cart to reach the last bag of Mint M&M's at Target today. I'm hoping they pay my lawyers fees after I practically put a woman in the hospital to get that last bag of minty perfection! Anyone else out there feel that M&M's seasonal bags are just plain teases?

Dear M&M Company,

As I tuck my children into bed tonight I watch their quivering lips, hungry for chocolatey minty goodness that will never be. I have to sadly tell them that I cannot share my last bag of mint M&M’s because I’m hoarding it to myself. My children will never know the taste of a perfect combination of chocolate to mint ratio. How sad it is that they grow up in a world where mint M&M’s are only seasonal. They come only for a few short weeks to tease us…. and then they’re gone like a perfect dream. Was it even real? Were they REALLY that good? But I cannot, WILL NOT, forget that refreshing taste as it entered my mouth, causing me to tune out the children fighting in the back seat. I can no longer smell the sour bottle of milk that tipped over and is now where to be found between the car seats, because I am savoring the taste of perfection. Mint M&M’s is my sanity as a stay at home mom of 3 and you have taken that away…..

As a mint M&M connoisseur, I like to sweep in and save other mother’s from their chocolate withdrawls, dropping off a bag of your addicting sugar to numb them from the sleep deprivation and crying torture they’ve surely endured. But sadly, some friends have realized they are NOT “mint M&M worthy” because of mint shortages, and the friendship becomes unrepairable. Oh stop this madness I beg of you!

I have hit a new low as I am asked by grocery employees if “it was really worth it?” to ram another shopper with my cart to reach that last bag of mint M&M’s? “Yes! Yes it was!” WWF wrestling aint got nothin’ on this desperate mama! But I feel no shame. I feel victorious! I will likely send the woman I mauled a "get-well bag of your plain M&M’s in the hospital as she recovers from her hip replacement that I may, or may not, have caused.

This is the world we live in now. You have created this with your mint- teasing, chocolate expert ways. This must end, before someone else gets hurt!

Sincerely,
a desperate mint loving, M&M hoarding, shopping-cart-drag-racing addict

Lets get a petition together: we need more mint M&M's!!!

And then there was light.....

Isn't it lovely that those pesky projects you really wanted to finish don't get done til you wanna move? Yep, that's me over here. Kicking myself for not doing this sooner. Do you know what an orange kitchen does for every birthday candle blowing picture? You turn into an oompa-loompa. That's what every photo looks like for the last 3 years. I love the color orange. I loved the look of it in my kitchen. But I'm not loving the super fake spray tan look it would do to our skin. I'm pasty white. I'll own it before I own looking like a pumpkin.... Here are my before kitchen photos: Ignore the after next to them- this is after we installed granite counters and a travertine backsplash......

And here is the after....... a little boring but lighter and airy! That's what I'm hoping anyway!


Don't know what's up with the super blue island..... weird. Does NOT look like that in real life!

So what do you think? Wanna buy my house now? Because supposedly this will make it sell! Cross your fingers for me!

2012 Resolutions

I've been thinking about making some goals. I usually don't make any because in the back of my mind I don't really believe I'll follow thru. Lame, but honest! But if I write them on my blog, I suddenly feel accountable to my blog. While I feel like there's so much more I could've done and I was a bit lazy on the crafts it's kind of nice to look thru my home and see what I have accomplished in the last year.

For instance: My office is pretty much done. And I still love my circus stripes....

I finally bought my deer head from Z Gallerie after I drooled over it for months. And the ikea frame I spray painted finally got out of the garage.

The chevron drape fabric was finally chosen and thanks to my mom, completed without any hot glue, velcro or painters tape. My mom is a seamstress, I'm a glue-er :)

The magnet board we made was painted white and hung.... and the room became complete!

I also completed drapes in the family room- again, thanks to my mom!

Fabric is called Chipper sunflower from Fabrics.com and made by Premier Fabrics.

Morgan's room finally got the finishing details as well. The finishing stuff is the trickiest for me....

The clipboards were mod-podged and hung. It only took 4 months......

The canvas was painted and the vinyl song lyrics applied. The pink birds were cut and stuck to the wall. And the room became complete!

Kimballs room changed from a baby bed to a big boy room!

And the wall gallery on the staircase was completed....

And all of this was because of the blog. Thank you blog friends. I need something to motivate me, to make me set goals and deadlines. My house feels pretty complete, just in time to sell! Isn't that how it works? The minute you finish a home, you take half a breath and you put it on the market? That's what's happened to my last home & now this home!

Goals for this year.....

1. Sell this house

2. Sell this house fast

3. Sell this house without dis-owning any family members or burning any of their/hoarders possesions to the ground. (not that it's ever crossed my mind or anything :)

4. Build a new home from scratch with my "pinterest dreams" without my family dis-owning me!

5. All the while, trying to lose weight.

Possible? I'm not sure. But maybe if I blog it? Goodnight bloggy. Maybe my bloggy dreams will come true this year too!

PS-I've linked to this fun party @Thrifty Decor Chick for more office inspiration!

Joining: the Nester 2012 Home Goals Party

& and this fabulous site: DIY Show Off

http://diyshowoff.com/