So What'll It Be?

To contact us Click HERE
After waiting for what seems like an eternity, we finally got to go to the doctor this morning to find out what we we're going to have! It was like Christmas morning; I could barely sleep (though that might have to do more with my expanding waistband) and we couldn't wait to get to the doctor - thankfully my appointment was at 9:00 am!

So the verdict?


Yep! We're having ourselves a little baby boy. Which is funny, because almost everyone said they thought it was going to be a girl, including us. But it was very apparent that a boy is coming our way! Most of my nursery ideas have been on the feminine side until now, so it's time to start brainstorming a more masculine room. Inspiration photos to come, I'm sure!


Photo credit: 1 2

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like....Packing.

To contact us Click HERE
More than anything these days, I've been craving the scene of us decorating a tree, hanging garland & lights, sipping on hot chocolate and putting up those last decorations in our cozy apartment while Christmas tunes play in the background. Reality, however, looks a little more like this:


For some reason we signed a 15 month lease last October, which gave us the task of moving right smack in the middle of December. The smartest choice? Probably not. But hey, at least we're getting a bigger place (raise your hand if you'd like to raise a baby in a one bedroom, 600sqft apartment!) and I'm hoping that we'll get moved in and mostly unpacked in time for me to throw up a little Christmas cheer to enjoy before the holiday descends and then passes on all too quickly (did I mention it's my favorite holiday?).

For the past month and a half I've been pinning all sorts of holiday decor ideas and since I promised myself I wouldn't buy anything before we move in order to limit the amount of stuff we have to transfer from one apartment to another, these will have to tide me over for another week or two!


I absolutely love the wreath snowman and I can't wait until our little boy will be old enough to help decorate the tree! What are your decor plans for the holidays?

Photo credit: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

I'm a Fan

To contact us Click HERE
So I have a confession to make. I'm not entirely sure that I'm allowed to paint in my apartment. Did that stop me from buying $70 worth of paint this weekend? Nope.

I say not entirely sure because I've never actually even asked, just on the off chance that the answer is no. I figure I'm in a better situation if complications arise and I can say "Oh really? I had no idea..." quite truthfully.

The way I justify it is this: I'm going to paint it back. And because I'm a perfectionist, it will probably look better than it did before. Just sayin'. I did ask if the apartment provides touch up paint, and they do, which means all I'll have to do is bring it to the store, color match it, and buy a couple of gallons. But that could be years down the road, so onward!

Garage sale-ing with my mom this weekend didn't reward us with a dresser (though there is a candidate at a resale shop in town, so stay tuned), but I did walk away with this:


We hit up four garage sales in the area and then on our way back home caught sight of a church having one as well, so we made a quick stop. It was easy to see once we got inside that they didn't have the type of furniture we were looking for, but we walked around for a minute anyway and I happened to pick up the fan deck. Lo and behold, it was for Mythic paint - the exact paint brand that we're using for the nursery. Why yes, I think I'll take you home with me.

According to the tag on the back, it was originally $26.00 (and the ones on the website now are $30.00) so I feel pretty good about picking this one up for 2 buckeroos. Even though I already had our color picked out for the nursery (Plumage, by Martha Stewart), I figured it was good to have because 1. In case they had trouble color matching in the store (they didn't), I would be able to find the closest match via swatches, 2. I could pick out a complementary gray in Mythic's own colors and not have to color match, and 3. For future painting endeavors, I'd have it on hand.

The next day Charles and I set out to get the rest of the supplies to start the nursery painting process. First off was the primer:

Low odor & Zero VOC

We went with the Olympic primer that Young House Love used when they painted their guest room the same dark blue color. The nice thing about tinted primer is that you don't need as many final coats of the actual paint. And since this stuff is only $16 a gallon (vs $44 for the paint), I'm happy to add it to the materials list.

Next up was the actual paint:


Like I said in the last post, we went with Mythic paint because it's non-toxic and zero VOC - even when they add in the color. So while it's about twice as expensive as regular paint, I'm happy with the choice since it's going in the nursery. Also, don't you just love their retro-esque branding?



We ended up getting two quarts of the Plumage accent color and two quarts of the gray - each one will be on two of the four walls in the room. We're leaving the ceiling alone, even though it's the same beige/off-white color the rest of the walls currently are. I don't think I have the stamina or the arm strength to mess with it...we just won't look up :)

We also picked up a few other supplies:


I was initially just going to ask around my various family members to borrow rollers, brushes and the like, but I figured if I'm going to be a real DIY-er, I need my own equipment. And at $9.97 for the ("$25 Value!") set, it wasn't exactly breaking the bank. Also added to the ranks: frog tape (so much better than blue painter's tape) and a "valved respirator" mask. Even though the paint is zero VOC and we'll be keeping the windows open for ventilation, I'll still feel better about wearing one of these bad boys.

The plan for this week is to clear out the remainder of the room, tape and prime and then early next week we'll tackle the painting.

Current cost breakdown:

• Primer: $18
• Painter set, frog tape & mask: $26
• 4 Quarts of Mythic paint: $70

TOTAL: $114

So I'll be sure to post updates on our first major painting adventure...Any painting tips you'd like to share? :)

The Long Awaited Dresser Post - Part 1

To contact us Click HERE
I'm a big fat liar... I believe it was in my March 6th post when I said that I'd be back later in the week with a dresser update. Admittedly things have been a little crazy, what with delivering a baby and what not. But let's put all of that behind us...and onto the dresser update reveal!

Well...not quite the reveal. That will be in Part 2. Liar again, I know. I'm workin' on it. In the meantime I'll be over here hanging with Jim Carrey.

So the dresser that we ended up buying was one that I had seen early on but at $60 was a little more than I was willing to pay at the time. Then after spending two weekends striking out at garage sales and Goodwills (not to mention the previous months of combing CraigsList all stalker-like), I decided to revisit the resale shop. It was closed. Sonofagun. Well not closed per se. The owner of that space was relocating to another part of the property and was supposed to be open again by the next weekend. He wasn't. But in a stroke of luck, another man on the property let us into the space because we were looking for a particular piece and were ready to buy. The best part was that I offered $40 and he agreed (this, friends, is what we refer to as a "steal"). So $43.30 later (yay tax), we had a dresser! Holy bananas I thought we'd never get there.

May I present to you: the before shot, even though we had already begun the sanding process.

The dresser was pretty scratched up, especially around the edges, and the finish on it was really dull, but I was drawn to the shape of it (I continually drool over the legs) and you can't beat that storage - currently every single drawer is full. It's a mid-century piece and I wish I knew its history, but we couldn't find a manufacturer/brand label, just this on the back:

Owosso is apparently a town in Michigan, but other than that I've got nothin'.

Luckily they stamped the word "dresser" on there, you know, in case we forget.

I was really excited about refinishing this dresser because I had never made over a piece of furniture before. One hiccup: I was pregnant. And even though I was ready to jump in (with protective face mask in hand), my parentals voiced their concerns, particularly with the sanding process. In the end we struck a compromise: I wouldn't take part in the sanding or staining, but I would get to finish things up by applying the top coat (which was non toxic & low VOC, but more on that later).

So in one afternoon my stepdad knocked out the sanding step and we were left with this bad boy (minus the feet, which he tackled later):

Poor thing is naked and here I am parading him on the internet. Tsk tsk.

I then had to decide on a stain. My original plan upon getting a dresser was going to be painting it stark white to go with the crib and the deep blue walls. However, because of the quality of this piece (dovetail joints!) and the detailed grain that was exposed after we sanded it down, I reversed my plan and decided to keep it au naturel.

I was initially drawn to the dark walnut (I'm not a fan of the blond stains or anything too light), but I was worried that it would be too dark. In the end I went with Early American, which ended up looking far and away better on the dresser than it did in the brochure. My stepdad had buckets of the stuff on hand, which was another bonus, so on went the Early American. Side note: who names these things?

We did one coat to start, which I thought would be too light, but ended up being perfect. Once the stain was on it was really easy to see just how beautiful the grain of the wood was. I'll save most of that for the next post, but here's a sneak peek...

Ooo la  la!

The Long Awaited Dresser Post - Part 2

To contact us Click HERE
(Click here to read part 1)

So where were we? Oh yes, I believe we left off somewhere around here:

A hunk of burning dresser love

The dresser had been sanded and stained, leaving us with a gorgeous grain (seriously, look at it) and thismuch closer to a finished product.

The next step was to put on the top coat - the one part of the process that I was actually able to do myself. Cue the giddyness.Who has two thumbs and gets excited about applying sealer? This girl. The product I used is called Safecoat Acrylacq and it looks a little something like this:

At nearly $30 including shipping, it's not exactly a bargain but it had my vote for a couple of reasons. The first is that it's non toxic, low odor and low voc, which meant that I could apply it without worrying that my unborn child would sprout a last minute third arm (mission accomplished!). Secondly, it seals in any offgassing that might arise from the wood and stain, which makes me feel okay about putting it in the nursery. And thirdly, it comes highly recommended from Young House Love, my oft-referred to DIY blog resource. Also note my stylish respirator mask, left over from painting the nursery, which, combined with applying it in a well ventilated area, further protected my little man from any unwanted extra limbs. Yeah you're welcome, Harrison.



I ended up putting on three coats of the sealer, sanding lightly with fine steel wool in between each coat. The steel wool was able to sand down the tiny rough spots that popped up without taking off the sealer (it just dulled it down a bit), so it worked perfectly. After rubbing the surfaces quickly with the wool, I ran a damp cloth over everything to get rid of the dust and then applied my next coat of acrylacq, letting it cure overnight. Rinse and repeat.

Oooo shiny

Once the final coat cured, my step-dad loaded the bad boy up in his truck, hauled it up to our second floor apartment and now it sits all pretty-like in the nursery!



I have plans for the wall behind the dresser, hence the "in progress" label. While the dresser itself is finished the nursery isn't quite there yet. Here's the previous list I posted:

• Set up the crib (my wonderful mother and step-dad got it for us and it should be in this week!)
• Fix up the dresser (I finally found one...more on that soon!)
• Finish the mobile
• Possibly find a twin bed for guests/those late night visits to the nursery - however this might be a "Phase 2" project
• Make/buy curtains

For now we're shelving the bed idea, but I also need to add:

• Build book shelves (my next big project)
• Hang up wall art

And now for more photos of the dresser, including a proper before and after:


It's hard to get across the exact coloration of the dresser, but the photo on the left below the "before" picture is probably the most accurate. It's a nice rich golden color and I love it.

Total cost breakdown:

Dresser: $43.30
Stain: Free (on hand)
Steel Wool: Free (on hand)
Paintbrush: Free (on hand)
Mask: Free (on hand)
Safecoat Acrylacq: $29.48

Total: $72.78

August 15--NOT Best Friends Day; Happy Relaxation Day, Yo!

To contact us Click HERE

My beloved sister Gayla with two of our besties, M & J.

If you've been following this blog for the last few days, then you know that today is BEST FRIENDS DAY! I think this is everyday but who am I to snub a celebration of the ones you love! Well, I might have been mistaken, which is only made worse by the fact that I cannot recreate my error in where I found my info. In addition to Google, Yahoo, and Fun Holidays, Holiday Insights says this day is June 8. I am still going to a tasting with my best friends today for their wedding and commitment ceremony. So booyah!

Bestie Sosie with me in NOLA.

Today IS National Relaxation Day. Oh, what to do, what to do! I don't know if I'll have time to book a massage, my favorite form of relaxation. However, I might be able to persuade the Hubby Dearest to give me a foot massage. Have I mentioned that I am SPOILED well loved?!

How do you relax?

1 PART REPOST/1 PART UPDATE: August 16--Happy Roller Coaster Day

To contact us Click HERE
Happy Roller Coaster Day! A little more than a year ago, I shared a story of my fear of roller coasters. A little more than two weeks ago, I was riding that first booger, Space Mountain, once again. That's me with the big screaming mouth!  Today is the anniversary of these little bits of crazy.

Repost from May 20, 2011:

Remember the blog on FEAR? Well, Space Mountain is another time I let my Gayla drag me into something kicking and screaming. When we were 13 and 15, respectively, Mama and Daddy took us to Disney World. Sister had one goal...Space Mountain! Being a chicken in every respect, I so did NOT want to ride a roller coaster.

I made Gayla promise the ride would not go upside down. She promised! Then she and I stood in line for an hour and a half. All the while, Gayla was beaming with excitement and I was listening to the screams of terror emitted from the pitch dark right above our heads.

Finally! It was our turn. I thought I might throw up as Gayla skipped to the little car where she claimed the front seat. I sat directly behind her, wrapped my arms around her real tight, and buried my head. Then, for the next 60 seconds, I screamed like a banshee right in sister's ear as we were zipped around in all directions in complete darkness.

At the end of the ride, when the lights go red as your ship is "landing," I think I hollered, "Oh, God! We're dead! We're in hell!" Gayla whipped around, glared at me with venom, and screamed at me, "You ruined it!" I felt horrible and tried to apologize. However, she would have none of it. To make it up to her, one of our parents stayed with her to stand in line and ride it without me while the other took me and Bubba to the Tea Cups.

I found a video of the ride with the lights on and have included the link so you can see how lame it looks with the lights on. Plus, I swear we were going faster than the video shows. Goes to show you, everything is scarier in the dark.