Birthday Roses

Okay, so my birthday was actually yesterday.

My husband surprised me with a dozen roses and breakfast in bed yesterday morning.

Isn't that sweet?

However, I always find it hard to display them.

I'm really not a fan of the cliche roses and baby breath jammed into a run-of-the-mill vase.

It screams "cheesy Valentine's Day present" all over it.

How do you mix cheesy roses with an antique-loving country-girl-at-heart?

Cut the roses short and display them in Ball canning jars!

Too bad I don't have any antique turquoise ones.

Oh well, can't be picky, can we?

I love how flowers can brighten up any room.

I'm getting pretty excited lately.

My bearded irises just poked their heads out, so I know it's not too far off when my lilac bushes will be in full bloom.

The usually bloom in May.



Kicking off Spring Break!

I'm finally on Spring Break!

I wish I was here....

....but I'm relaxing at Mi Casa for the week instead.

I'm going full speed ahead on my closet, and it WILL get done by Thursday (I have an inspector coming Thursday morning, and I want this place CLEAN.)

I ran into some minor delays the past few days:

1. Ran out of primer.

2. Bumped my head onto a wall with wet primer on it. 10 showers later...still have primer in my hair. Hey, at least I know it does it's job well, right?

3. Tried prying a board off the wall, and sunk the hammer into the drywall. In my defense, the nails used to nail this board into the wall mimicked the nails used when my saviour Jesus Christ was nailed to the cross.

These things were wicked big.

So the wall is patched, I still have primer in my hair, and that's about it.

I'm buying more primer tonight, so tomorrow morning, I'll get the walls done!

By tomorrow night, I'm hoping the flooring will be done.

Wednesday morning, I will work on the trim, and by the end of the day, the door will be cut and installed.

Anyways, I'm actually stopping in to show you a product that I just got online.

I had a coupon for $15 off at Express.

This fun little ditty is only $15.90

That's a perfume on one end and lipgloss on the other!

How cool is that?!

I only paid 90 cents + shipping & handling.

(The coupons were sent to me for my birthday. Thanks Express!)

The lipgloss consistency is excellent. Not too sticky. The color is amazing!

I'm picky about perfumes, and I must say, I really like this one!

It's a floral scent, and it's not "in your face" strong.

Just thought I'd share my discovery.

;)

Wall Building

Just as a heads up, I'll be here pretty sparse until about May.

All my free time is spent either studying, being in class, or practicing like crazy in a nursing lab.
Next month I will be starting my clinicals, so it will be even more quiet around here.

Heck, I barely get to see my family right now.

=(

But today, I have the day off from work, I don't have school, and I'm pretty much caught up in everything, so I have a spare minute or two.

;)

A few weeks ago, I built a wall in my kneewall closet. I've taken down walls before, but I've never built one. It's great that I was able to practice on something small that people won't see.

So today, I'm going to show you the progress, as well as teach you some lingo.


The frame is the skeleton of your house.
It usually consists of a bottom plate, top plate, and all the studs in between.
Studs are normally spaced 16" on center.
If a door is added, however, you will also need a header, cripple studs, king studs, and possibly trimmer studs.
I didn't put a trimmer stud on my wall, well....because I didn't really see the need for it.

Maybe it's because I also cut my own door jamb and I'm making my own door.
I just didn't see the need when the door was in a little kneewall.


I then put up drywall on both sides.

It's already taped and mudded, but I didn't take a picture of that.

Then I had to make the door jamb.

I had to rip-cut a 1x6 to the width of my studs + the thickness of both pieces of drywall.

Yes, I know that you would usually have a trimmer stud there, buy a door + jamb kit, and shim it level and plumb, but remember...it's just a kneewall closet door.

I'm more concerned about cost.

=D

Anyways, that's about as far as I have gotten. The rest of the flooring is purchased, but not installed.

I still need to prime and paint the entire closet.

The trim needs to be installed.

I need to cut out the door and attach it to the jamb.

I have to install the door stop on the jamb.

I have to add the door hardware.

Unfortunately, I barely have even a spare 30 minutes to do any of this.

I have a Spring Break coming up in a month, and I'm going to power it out all in 1-2 days.

Aaron Rodgers

He rocks my socks.

=D

Hope everyone enjoyed the Super Bowl as much as I did!



Ruff Hewn

My obsession with Ruff Hewn started when I saw their awesome Fall decor line.



My pumpkin is white/cream. I like to put candies in this dish, or put a big chunk of floral foam in it and press in some flowers.

It makes an awesome display.

Then I saw these great leaf plates.

I had to have them.

Awesomely creamy white.

(sigh...)

Of course, I had to have chargers to go underneath those awesome plates.

Actually, you can see that I frequently use them in outdoor dining, as well.

Though, since I've since relocated these chargers indoors, I'm thinking about replacing my outdoor ones with these:

They are pretty inexpensive, and square, just like the outdoor dining table.

....but I'm getting off track, because these chargers are KN, not Ruff Hewn.

;)

Then my obsession started morphing.

I found this auto emergency kit.

Hey, a girl's got to be safe, right?

Then, I saw that they make some of the most comfortable clothes!

Mine is a beige/light brown color.

Actually, I have a great pair of sneaker, too. It's not listed on the website, and I know it's discontinued.

My latest find:

This awesome baking dish.

Now, I have a glass 13x9 dish...but it's nothing in comparison to this one!

And my special four-cheese lasagna looks amazing in it!

Now, I'm definitely not telling you to go out and buy all this stuff! I found most of this stuff at the end of the seasons, so I scored them on Yellow Dot.

I just know that a lot of my followers' hearts skip a beat when they see cottage/country-style.

Plus, I wanted to show you my obsession.

=D

Well....that.....and Fossil jewelry....but I won't even get started on that!

***Though Younkers does pay me (you know...since I work there...), my opinions are solely my own. They do not pay me to advertise or say nice things. Trust me...I would let you know if I think a brand sucks. (cough) Bella Cucina (cough). ***

Green and Gold

Is it sad, that when I'm chopping peppers for supper, I think,

"Hey, those are Packer colors!"

You see, my love for the Pack runs deep.

I remember my dad eating hot peppers each time the Pack scored a touchdown (though I'm not exactly sure why).

I received my amazing "scream at the TV" skills from my ma.

...using green and yellow food dye to draw Packer related pictures in the snow-banks.

I love my Pack.

I do.

When they defeated the Bears for the NFC Championship, my family went crazy.

We teach them young.

;)

I am beyond excited for this year's Super Bowl.

The last time the Packers won a Superbowl was 1997.

I was only 10 years old....

Though I remember it, at 10, you don't really "get" football.

Even if they don't win, I'm just glad they got there, ya know?

Coming up:

-recipes

-recommendations

-closet progress (building a wall)

Kitchen Color

I think it's about time to take that kitchen color poll off of my header, hey?

The Winner:

Lemon Verbena

Though it will be a bit before I paint the kitchen, it's nice knowing that the color is already picked out!

Thank you so much for your help in picking out a color.

You're opinion is so important to me!

I have a different kitchen painting project that I need to finish. I started it a while back and never got around to finishing it...but I'm hosting a Partylite party at the end of February, so my  house needs to be somewhat finished!

I'll definitely let you know when I start/complete the kitchen painting!

Celebrity Resemblances

During my last email chat with Roeshel from The DIY Showoff, I told her that "I feel like I know a celebrity!" obviously referring to her.

Though she insisted that she's not (so very humble, my dear friend, Roeshel), it finally hit me...

...maybe it's because she so closely resembles a celebrity!

Roeshel from The DIY Showoff:



Sarah Walker from the TV show: Brothers & Sisters:

Soooo gorgeous!

She's one of my favorite characters from the show.

Anyone else see the resemblance?

Or is it just me?

Uncanny....

I think Roeshel is Sarah Walker, and she's just being her usual humble, modest self. Trying to fly under the radar. Well, I'm Roeshel's biggest stalker follower, so of course I would find out her secret!

Featured: The DIY Showoff

I swear, Roeshel from The DIY Showoff is my biggest supporter.

Many of my followers originally found me through her!

If you don't know her, click the image above to check out her blog!

You can also click here to go directly to my feature!

AND a huge thanks to Roeshel for the feature. It is much appreciated!

Master Bedroom Redo

I am finally showing you my master bedroom.

This should be the.....3rd?...time that I've redone the master bedroom since buying our house in 2006.

Yeah, I know, that's a lot, but it always takes me a few tries to get things "perfect."

So with all my junk stuff successfully stuffed into my husband's closet, all I had to do was give the room a quick mopping and iron the curtains, and I was all set!

I never took a "before" photo.

I'm sorry.

If you want a quick run-down of the flooring being put in, and a little sneak at what the walls used to look like, you can check it out in this post here.

Without further adoo (ado? adu?), here is the master bedroom:

Bedskirt: http://www.younkers.com/shop/bed-bath/duvets-bed-skirts-canopies/livingquarters-crochet-bed-skirt_169213.html  in ivory



Table lamps: LivingQuarters from Younkers.  (Sorry, there's no web link)

Bedding: http://www.westelm.com/products/organic-cotton-pin-tuck-duvet-cover-and-shams-b340/?pkey=corganic-bedding  in natural

Wooden roman shades: Menards (sorry, no web link!)

Curtains: http://www.shopko.com/detail/envision-studio-bailey-cord-grommet-top-window-panel/10080/0710

I won this jewelry armoire last summer at an auction.

I have way too much jewelry, and I just donated half my collection.

Haha...

Mirror: Younkers (no web link, I found it on Yellow Dot, so it was super cheap!)

So what do you think?

My bedroom before had "noise" everywhere. I packed so much stuff into such a small space. I need to de-clutter my life.

This bedroom is so peaceful at night, and so cheery in the morning.

I love it.

=D

Of course, I will be adding a thing here or there.

My husband wants a chair in the room, so he can sit down and put his socks on.

Right now he does a funny little hop when he puts them on.

It amuses me, but he's not as amused.

Haha.

I'm thinking about putting this one from the Country Living line from Kmart in the corner by my new mirror:

It matches the new nightstands.

I'm in love with the upholstery nail trim.

(Ahem...I have a birthday coming up, Hubs!)

I also want to warm up the room a bit with some nice natural jute rugs.

I'm in love with this one from Pottery Barn:

...but it also has a $49 price tag.

I would need two, and $100 is way out of my price range.

Target has about the same prices.

If anyone knows of a place that sells jute rugs in 3'x5' for about $30 or less, could you let me know?

I would appreciate it greatly!