We Interrupt This Program...

Pictures often speak louder than words.

Yes, that's my kitchen floor.

Oh the mess.

Oh the smell.

It's kinda like buried treasure.

Except it's not at all like that.

We have rotten drain pipes in our kitchen.

Under the concrete.

Do wish us luck.

And if you play the lottery then please stop so I can win.

Heh-heh.

Shabby Apple Giveaway!

Wow! It's been way too long since I've hosted a giveaway.

Lucky for me, the good people at Shabby Apple are letting me host one.

Don't know about Shabby Apple yet?

It's an online dress boutique that specializes in vintage and retro dresses.

You can click here: vintage dresses to see their selection!

 

Sounds great huh?

I didn't mind taking a moment to pick out 1... or 10 for myself.

But lucky for you, Shabby Apple is giving away a $50 gift card to one of you! 

 

I decided I'd take two of each.

One for my fat days.

One for my skinny days.

The one above just shouts, classy spring dress!

Do you hear it?

 



 

I love black dresses.

Love them I say.

A black vintage dress is just about as perfect as you can get!

Right?



 

Wait.

I was wrong.

White.

I love white.

When I think of summer... I think white.

When I think of beaches... I think white.

A white summer dress is just what I need.

Yes indeed.

 

 

I'm a timeless kind of gal too though.

I love dresses that can roll through the ages and still be classy.

A timeless dress is the key.

 

What's your fancy?

 

To be eligable for this giveway then you have to LIKE Shabby Apple on Facebook.

Then leave me a sweet little comment to let me know that you did so!

 

Want to up your chances of winning?

Leave me another comment to let me know what dress you're drooling over!

 

Please make sure you have a way for me to contact you and that you are a USA resident.

 

Giveaway closes May 27, 2013 at 12AM central time.

 

 

Getting In The Groove Again

Have you ever come home from a wonderful vacation and tried to jump back into normal life?

It's not easy.

Especially when you spent a week in Florida with you parents, 5 siblings and their spouses plus 17 grand kids.

In one house.

For one one week.

At the beach.

Am I repeating myself?

 

Anyway, it was great.

 

 

 

Then we came home.....

 

 

I sat in a lounge chair in our back yard trying not to move a muscle.

Trying to hold on to the memories.

Bragging (via text) to my two younger siblings who were still driving back to VA about how wonderful the weather was here and how I wasn't doing anything but relaxing.

 

Yup.

That's what I said.

 

Then a ball got stuck on the roof and our boys tried to get it down.

With rocks.

Life is always interesting.



 

Teacher appreciation week was also last week.

I had fun creating a few things for our wonderful teachers and staff.

Beau specifically asked that I find or make a piece of jewelry for his teacher.

He wanted it to say "I love you".

I had fun making it and thought it was sweet of him to want that for her.

 

 

You know those bloggers that have beautiful homes?

You know.

The ones that show your their home one day and then the next day they post again with the new flooring they installed the evening before.

On a whim.

With only a toothpick and a paint scraper as her tools.

She actually did it all by herself while she took care of her 4 kids and 3 dogs.

Look at her go.

 

Yeah that's not me.

We have started the demolition of our flooring.

We are down to the nasty, gritty concrete that forces me to wear shoes all the time because I can't stand the feel of it on my bare feet.

Yup.

That's the stage we're in.

It's a stage we will remain in for a while.

We're buying a new back door.

Ahhh!

It's good to be back!

Join Me For Coffee? {A New Sign}

Why have they not made an authentic smelling coffee candle?

The kind that fills not only your nose but your whole head with that aroma that makes you want to crunch right into the whole coffee bean.

The aroma that makes non coffee drinkers wish they were coffee drinkers.

Why?

How hard can it be you candle makers?

I am a coffee lover.
Not a connoisseur mind you.
Just a lover of coffee.
I like coffee you can chew.
Yup.
I said chew.

I will admit that I drink a latte every morning.
I'm not ashamed.
You can chew espresso too.

Unfortunately this slice of coffee went off to new lands.
I sold it to my brother-in-law in Virginia.
It will be for sale at his store there.

Bottoms up you coffee fans.
Chew that coffee down!

(and somebody get busy on that candle)

Renewed, Upcycled, Recycled , Cube Footstool

I can't even begin to tell you how long I've wanted to do this sort of project.

Let us hear the story of how it came to be...

 

So Derek and the two older boys went on a men & boys camping trip this last weekend.

Fun for them, fun for me.

Now those of you who have been around for a while will remember I have a third son.

My in laws (who are awesome btw) called and asked if they could keep him for the day.

I may have interrupted them before they finished asking with a hearty yes!

 

I love my kids.

I do.

But in the back of my mind I've been wishing for a trip to HomeGoods.

I wanted it to be the kind of trip that memories are made of.

But not the kind where memories must be paid for because they were accidentally broken.

 

I browsed through HomeGoods at my leisure.

I. looked. At. Everything.

Twice.

At the end of my browsing then I set one measly item on the counter and asked if they could mark it down even more for me since the lid was missing.

They did.

Nice people those HomeGooders.

I rushed home with my burn-your-eyeballs-pink-cube.

I yanked out my burlap coffee bag that I had been hoarding for just such a moment.

(Not sure who I was hoarding it from? Perhaps myself?)

I realized as I lovingly draped my coffee friend over the pink cube that the pink cube was still showing through.

I ran outside with my pink cube and quickly sprayed it down with some black spray paint.

Then I went to stapling....

 

 

 

The lid was next.

Not very exciting.

I cut.

I screwed my planks to another piece of wood.

I stained.

I stuffed.

I stapled.

I banged tacks around it. 

 

And I was happy.