Weekend REwind

 

We had a great weekend!!!

 

Friday night I watched The Big Wedding - it was pretty good, with a cast loaded with potential! No complaints!

 

Saturday M went into town and got our groceries done, while I started emptying the bedroom, folded laundry, and figured out our outfits for pictures.

 

Dress was from Giant Tiger (I lucked out, as I don't shop there often at all and it was only $15)

He then went and did an oil change on my car afterwards at the farm and cleaned it out for me!! Sweet husband!!

 

We changed the bedroom round, it may have taken us waaay longer than I care to admit, because we couldn't get our furniture to fit just right, but we made some compromises and got it done. And during the two nights we have had it switched I have slept soo much better. My allergies are starting to lighten up a bit, a small improvement that I will take!

 

Our pictures went well, I can't wait to see how they turn out! The sunlight was soo co-operative.

 

When we got home, we finished working on the bedroom and called it a night! I knew I had to get up early the next morning!

 

Sunday we were off by 9, instead of 8 because we couldn't find my updated car insurance forms, so we had papers everywhere when we came home, which I am dealing with today!

 

Our shopping trip was great! I got some great deals:

- 2 pairs of maternity jeans $30

- 4 packs of maternity underwear - $20 - should have been $40+

- 1 pair of black khaki like pants - $12

- 1 tankini top - $7

- 4 maternity t-shirts $35

- 2 dressier shirts - $45

- 1 pair of amazing leggings - $20

- 3 jugs of raspberry lemonade - $6

- Starburst Candy Corn (yum!!) - $4

- some gifts for someone special coming soon....

 

Baby V didn't get very much, nor did M, but overall we went for maternity clothes and that we got!! Plus I got to show M what I might look like in a few months with the bump simulator. I definitely caught him off guard! haha.

 

We had Chili's, for lunch and Cheesecake Factory for dinner, oh and for breakfast haha that cake is delish and I barely made a dent in it!!!

 

We found a stroller we love love love:

 

Its called a Bumbleride - Indie.

 

Reasons we love it:

- super lightweight

- folds compact

- compatible with our car seat

- great for all terrain

 

Oh and it's super cute! I was thinking I would end up getting 2 strollers, one for all terrain and one for shopping/traveling with that was lightweight because most all terrains are heavy and don't fold small. This one had it all!!!  

 

Our trip back home was long!! I guess there was a Buffalo Bills Game on yesterday and that just packed the border right up, plus construction = a very long 1.5 hour wait! We were supposed to get home at 9:30, and arrived at 11 PM!

 

I was beat! M was beat, and luckily M's parents had let the dogs out in the afternoon when they got home from the lake! We were soo worried about them!

 

Then poor M slept through his alarm and didn't wake up until after he was supposed to be at work... Good thing he works with his Dad!! Family business perks? LOL!

 

As for me, I have a lot of organizing to do, something I am not great at! I totally need a personal organizer to come into my home and show me how its done!

 

 

What Is A Girl To Do/Friday Letters

Sorry for the blogging interruption yesterday... it was raining. I know, you read that correctly - the drought has ended, not that we really had a drought, but the grass is getting greener. We haven't had rain like this - well I don't even remember the last time!

So you are probably thinking - okay Ashley it was just some rain, why the heck didn't you blog? Well you see, what else is a girl to do on a rainy day? SHOP!!! But not just shop, but head to the USA to shop!! Yup I went to Port Huron with my sister! I think I actually out shopped my sister for ONCE!

Wonder what I bought? You are in luck, I thought a head, knowing I would be blogging from the office I took some poor quality pics late last night!! Here we go:

Scarf, Belt, Strawberry Slicer!!

Tank from Vanity, T-Shirt and Cocoon Sweater

New Curtains for the Dining Room from Target - which let me down massively!! No maxi dresses!!

I bought 2 maxi skirts (striped and black one), 1 maxi dress but is not fancy, lace short sleeved cardi, and a tank.

This fabric (which I LOVE) will be seen later in a surprise DIY project!!! Can't wait!!

More fabric!!!

I am not sure how I ended up with this - it must have just jumped in the car... because I DO NOT need another bedding set! M thinks I may have a problem and for once I think he is right! I cannot fight the urge to buy new bedding!!

Now for some letters:

Dear Blogger: I really don't know what is going on with you - but you have really screwed up my last post on my photo wall and now I need to figure out how to fix it or I will have to rewrite it - thanks!

Dear M: Your birthday is coming up on Sunday!! Soo pumped!! Oh and sorry for buying another bed set - at least if something ever happened and we had to live on the streets, we will be warm - trendy and warm - or we could sell it for food!!! (Yes this is how I just justified another bedding purchase.) I also want to thank you for my lunch today!

(Our conversation went a little something like this: A: What are you gunna make me for lunch today? M: I don't know - we didn't do groceries. A: Okay but seriously what are you gunna make me? M: Well I decided that the money I make is going to buy you lunch today. A: Okay, where is it? M: In the bank card.)

Dear Rain: Nice to see you, thanks for making things green again! No offense though, I am ready for the sun again!

Dear Target: You really let me down!! I looked on your website and saw all this kick ass clearance and you had pretty much NONE! What is up with that? You did have the curtains, but no table cloths. M thanks you for not having the yellow and gray bedding set though, but I am still a bit bitter in all honesty!

Dear Hair: I hope you are having fun doing yourself today, try not to be too frizzy! Okay? Okay!

Dear Skin: Seriously let's call a truce and be friends! I am sick to death of this acne BS and now dry skin! I don't even know how to correct this, although coconut oil seems to a partial remedy for the dry skin at least!

Have a great weekend!

DIY: Dresser Refinishing!

Here are the before photos of the dressers:

Excuse the dust!!

We also attempted to change over some of the hardware before hand..

We used the Rust-Oleum Cabinet Transformations - feel free to click on the link to find out more about the process and how EASY it was!

The sad part is that you cannot buy this product in Canada yet... but it is worth the trip to the states!

Here is the finished product:

We managed to give it the distressed look we love soo much, allowing the antique finish through a tiny bit! We still wanted that extra character!

We are in love with the new finish!!! It has changed the whole look of the room!

We also switched the two dressers around in the room ;)!!

Manic Monday

Coming to you from my office at work... remember I had to work today? Apparently my body forgot too as it dragged all morning long!

What a super busy, yet productive and low key weekend!

Friday: Headed down to the ball park to watch a local baseball game.

Saturday: M went in to work in the morning and then in the afternoon we started refinishing the bedroom dressers! We decided against doing the bed yet, since we have figured out what we want to do yet with the headboard! I took better pictures of the before, but here is a glimpse of what they no longer look like:

This was from before we even did the floors! Check out that hardware! These antiques needed some love! However, we were terrified to refinish them because they are antique and we are the 4th generation to have them in our family!

Then along came good old Rust-Oleum:

via

Granted we weren't doing cabinets... it worked almost just as well on dressers and provided an alternate solution to refinishing them.

I will be doing a post to explain just what we did, along with before and after pictures. But I will say that we are definitely happy with how they have turned out!!

The whole process is timed and we managed to finish last night! We even filled the drawers back up and put on new hardware!!

I managed to cross a few things off the good old to-do list!

Sunday we had to take my SUV back to the dealership to get the cruise control fixed - we knew about this when we bought it. So we stopped at Costco on the way home.

We also managed to sneak in a walk before it really rained - it was spitting during our walk.

So today I drove the beast aka the explorer to work. - I am sure I have mentioned before that it hates me...

I also found a few more to-do's on Pinterest over the weekend!

Manic Monday and Reno Pics Revealed

Okay, I did it... the pictures have been taken and I will be revealing them!! But let's recap the weekend a bit first shall we?

Friday night: M had ball, however I did not attend this game, which is fine because it doesn't sound like I missed much... they lost again! But J and I headed to a buck and doe to help out N & K. The guys showed up a bit later and some fun was had.

Saturday morning M had to work and I managed to sleep in. It was very much needed on my part, since my allergies have turned into a cold... fun.. let me tell you about it... okay I will spare you the details, but it sucks!!

I worked on laundry and tidying up the house a bit. M came home in the afternoon with the back hoe and operation: outside was in progress. M cleaned out the garage of the flooring debris, although it is still dusty in there, you can see the floor and it is a usable space again. Then we began the work on the gardens... hard to imagine there was a garden underneath all the weeds... it was BAD! M also brought home the round up. That will be going on tonight I hope! We emptied the hot tub for the summer, which is the first time we have emptied since we got it! Crazy!!! Saturday night we just laid low and relaxed - we have not done that in a very long time!!

Sunday morning I slept in AGAIN and then we were back to those gardens. We headed to town for some lunch and groceries. I also needed more hangers... we won't discuss that with Mike though okay? M headed out for his first golf game in 4 years... he didn't do horrible, I just told him that now he has set the bar to show room for improvement.... lol. He was only 50 over.... I promised I would go out with him, although I am sure my talent is lacking... I used to golf in my teenage years, in fact my Dad made me take lessons with him.  While the boys and J were golfing, K and I made a birthday cake for J. I will definitely be sharing the recipe with you, once I see how it goes over... Overall K and I had a great girl's afternoon with little Miss G! Love that kid!! Oh and we definitely did not watch the Bachlorette eatting cookie dough, just in case anyone asks.... ;)

Today I am working away on laundry and getting the house ready to entertain, it would be a lie for me to tell you that my house has NOT been neglected during these renos... haha. I cannot wait to have it back to normal.

Happy Birthday J!!!

Tonight I am hosting girl's night, but I invited the boys to come for cake, but told them they couldn't stay long!!

So you wanna see some pics of our projects? Okay... here goes nothing, just keep in mind the finishing touches are NOT done!!

So this was the old laundry room... home of our new office before:


This picture was taken from before we moved in, but we did not change the color or the floors... they are *fantastic* though... (note my sarcasm)....

So our office now looks a little like this now:

Yes, there are taps coming out of the wall... they are for the sink. We are keeping a sink in this room, but casing it in, it is just not in yet!! M didn't want to lose his water for the bar, so it is a bit of a multifunctional room...

There is also that random dryer vent still there and the gas line from the dryer which will be leaving at one point, as well as a cieling tile missing, as M was fishing the internet line back down. Curtains will also be coming too!! I am loving having all the bookcases in one room though!

I am just happy that green is gone...

And now on to the Master Closet... which did not exist before:

This is what the space looked like before, but there was a false wall in between for some reason. This space exists between the laundry room and our master bedroom.

This is the view after from the laundry room (we kept access from the laundry room)

and this is what it looks like from the bedroom... I have a door to my closet!!! (it is not trimmed in yet...)

 And this is what it looks like inside:

I haven't even filled the whole closet yet!!!

Oh and you may have just got a sneak peak of the dress I plan to wear to the weddings in July...

We have sooo much space that we did not have before and we never would have imagined we would get all that space!!!

So there you have it... the finished rooms will be posted as they are complete, but that is what we have been up to!!

Oh Ya We Did....

Sorry about the post lackage on Friday... sometimes life gets too busy for blogging! Also, sometimes the weather takes away your internet and prevents you from blogging or makes you blog later than you choose to.... But fear not, I am back with another edition of:

So Friday - M worked on mudding the closet and then we headed to his ball game - which they lost by 1... but they had no umpire and it should have been tied.... just sayin'.

Saturday morning was started early with a call from Mike's Dad saying he didn't have to work today, so M came back to bed and then was awaken again shortly by his pager for a Co2 alarm going off. I rolled out of bed around 9:00. M sanded the walls and applied the next coat of mudding. He then informed me that he was going to take me on a date to see Bridemaids that night. I knew that evening plans would not work with our painting schedule, so I agreed to the date, but decided to leave in 20 minutes for it instead. Since the mud had to dry, we decided to take advantage of that time and got ready quickly and headed to town.

And this is what we wore:

(excuse the renovation junk in the background and my lack of hair style... got ready in 5 minutes)

Oh ya we did:

His shirt actually says game over...

and we saw:

source

It was pretty good, with a touch of gross, but overall funny. I will also mention that we were running late and missed the previews, which I was fine with because I don't care to watch them, but M loves that part of any movie. We quickly grabbed snacks and a drink and headed into theatre, sat down and my phone started to pocket dial on speaker, I ended up spilling half the bag of my popcorn all because it was pocket dialing my freakin' voicemail.... oppps!!!

After the movie, we followed tradition and grabbed some Dairy Queen... mmhmmm rolo blizzard for me and chocolate dipped waffle cone with vanilla ice cream for M please!

We came home, M cut the grass before MORE rain came and boy did it come. We got the closet primed and ready for paint on Sunday morning.

Sunday morning we put on the first coat of paint, which we already had from our bathroom cupboards, thinking we had enough, which of course we didn't. So off to Home Depot again to get another quart of Russian White paint, and some other things we needed as well for the flooring. We had lunch out and grabbed a few groceries and headed back home to get the 2nd coat of paint on. Thanks to the muggy weather, it wasn't quite ready, so M put the closet door up, and got the light ready to hang. By the time that was all done, we put the 2nd coat on quickly, put up the light and down went the floors. Just in time for a massive thunderstorm (which took my internet out). We were yet again supposed to play ball last night, but due to the weather again, we were cancelled. So you have read that correctly, I have not played ball once yet this season!  M and I managed to get the closet rods and shelving up and in place for me to fill today! I have been waiting for this day for a LONG time!!

Pictures will be coming soon of our new master closet!!! I am sooo happy to have it, let me tell you that much!! Now I might be able to get my household back into working order, aside from the basement, which is full of the office furniture!!

So can you guess what I am doing today? Did you guess filling my closet? You are correct!!!

Oh and be sure to pop by Tara's blog today and check out my guest post!!!

Renovation Weekend!

So, today is the day we get new floors in our bedroom!!! Bye Bye carpet... hello laminate!!!

I have never revealed our bedroom to you I realize, so I will now!!

Pictures from the old owners:

Yes weren't those curtains fantastic?! Ha!

And a recent picture taken today, before the floors.... I just realized I didn't have one with our old furniture... oppps!

(Excuse the mess, I just wanted to take some quick before pictures so you could see the changes!! Ignore the dust and the bed made improper)

The carpet... burbur to be exact!

Lux wanted to say HI!

So our "new" furniture needs some love!! More to come on that soon!!

Also don't mind my duvet cover, as you all know I have several options, but this is not the typical one...

Stay tuned for the after pictures!!