True Story: I Love My New Puppy

Well about a month ago, we added a new member to our family. Yes, she's a puppy and no, Olive is not a fan.

House divided.

Her name was Twiggy, but we changed it to Britta after a favorite character on our favorite TV show Community. We also love filtered water :)

A friend of mine knew that her owners couldn't take care of her anymore and I met her and couldn't say no. They had arranged all of her vet visits through the end of the year and paid for them. She had tons of toys, treats, food, medicine, etc. Plus a kennel and puppy pad. We were all set. So we kept her and now we love her very much even though she likes to pee on our bedspread, chew our shoes, and poop in our hallways. (It's getting better! I just hate having to discipline her !)

She weighs about 9 lbs now and that's as big as she will get. She is a maltese/ yorkie mix and I believe Saturday will be her 9 month birthday! Yay for that!

As for her and Olive, I think they will get along in the future, but right now I think Olive is still very protective of Ryan and I, and also loved being the only attention getter in the house. I think we are doing a pretty good job of showing them both that they are the best though :)

I'm going to bugger off and finish watching Hunger Games (for the 3rd time, 1st on blu-ray!) and leave you with a sample of the ridiculous amount of pictures I have taken of this dog in it's first 5 weeks with us! Enjoy! Can't wait for you to meet her!

Oh, and her middle name is Secretariat. Because of the obvious resemblance.

Christmas!!!.... Is Over :(

Happy New Year! It's been awhile since I blogged but after taking down Christmas decorations this weekend, I thought I'd share some of what our house looked like during the holidays. 

This is a wreath I made for our front door from burlap and ribbon. I pinned 4 x 4 bubbles of burlap randomly around a wreath form.  I added a couple of do-dad's later on and I plan on adding to it each year with other little wreath accessories I find to jazz it up and make it different.

 To make this garland I took a strand of lights and tied pieces of red tulle in between each light to give it a bit of color.  I'd love to put some greenery on the banister at some point but this was crafty and fun, and cheaper :) Next year I might add some green tulle to it to make it fuller!

Ah, the mantle. Very random, but all pretty festive. I made the JOY canvas by wrapping it up in wrapping paper. I spray painted the 3 wood letters I got at Hobby Lobby and then hot glued them to the canvas.  I love my nutcracker and the snowman (thanks Nanny) too. 

I promised Ryan I was keeping the wine bottles for a reason! I bought some silver "webbing" spray paint and spray painted each of these wine bottles.  I had some red sticker letters, and put "Love" and "Peace" on them to indulge the Christmas spirit. I think I am going to leave the Love one out for Valentine's Day! :)

Overall it was a nice little DIY Christmas in here. I of course tore up some Target, Garden Ridge, and World Market after Christmas sales to get some more ornaments, lights, and other decorations for next year.  I hope everyone had a great Christmas!

New Furniture!

This is our newest addition to the Hollyview House. We got rid of this wine table:

by selling it on Craiglist for the same amount I bought it for 6 months ago. I really liked this table but we figured something with a little bit more functionality would be best in our kitchen.  We got rid of it surprisingly quickly and once it was gone we discovered we needed something badly.  So we went out for a nice little Sunday shopping expedition and found the bar at World Market. We love the look and it's awesome. Cabinet, drawer, wine rack, AND the top platform folds out into a long bar, twice as long as it appears in the picture. 

Yes. It's awesome. It's not heavy so it's portable enough that when we have parties when it's warmer, it would be great for taking outside and using as a bar. The best part about this was the deal. 

It was advertised as $172.99 with my 25% off furniture coupon at World Market.  When we wanted to take it home they did not have any readily available. (They were buried under other boxes). When we got the call they had some available 2 days later, we were checking out and were surprised to find it ring up at $399.99. Our collective reply was "What??" The manager promptly ran over to tell the cashier that the sign that was out on Sunday was wrong but they were honoring the price. We pretty much saved $230.00 on this $400.00 piece of furniture.

Cha ching!!!! We like it even more now :) If you need anything furniture wise, especially accent pieces, check out World Market- it's kind of our favorite... annnnd you might get lucky like we did.

X-Factor: InTENsity > Lakoda Whatever

Not sure if anyone is into X-Factor or not but I am. :) Paula is so not on drugs this season and Simon actually looks like he is enjoying himself on this show. Plus it's awesome. If you haven't watched it yet I definitely suggest starting to. It's on Wednesday nights at 8 and next week is the top 11.

The way it works is that each judge: LA Reid, Nicole Scherzinger, Paula and Simon works with a group of contestants. LA has boys under 30, Nicole the over 30's, Paula with the groups and Simon with the girls under 30.  Last night Paula's group InTENsity made up of 10 tweens looking to make it in a Glee world was kicked off.  The bottom two acts based on votes from the public, sing for their lives to the judges and then the judges choose which one gets to stay.  Now, I have my favorites, but I definitely have my "MUST LEAVE NOWS" and Lakoda Rayne is at the top of that list. It's a group of 4 girls, all very pretty, and all very talented but put together by the judges at Boot Camp, together they are TERRIBLE. I want to like them, I really do. But yikes. I can't believe they weren't in the bottom two. Stereo Hoggzz who I love, and would love more if they get a better name (I mean really) were also in the bottom two. What a world. Please start watching this show, I swear it's different from AI!

Last but not least, if I have not yet inspired you to watch this show, please take a look at this video of "Drew". She is 14 and she is unbelievable. Simon actually said the other night that he believes she is more of his mentor than he is of her. Wow. Just watch! Happy Friday!

Re-Finishing and Re-Purposing a Microwave Stand

A little while after we first moved in I went on a rampage of trying to find some supplementary tables/ stands for the house because we were severely lacking in this department. We had no where to put remotes, books, lamps, etc. in the house which for me, when everything needs a place, but there's no place for it to go, is very frustrating. I found this nice wood microwave stand at the flea market J-Town Mall of Vendors for $15.00 with the intention of re-finishing it. I bought the materials for the project but just recently got around to doing it.

I cleaned the table and sanded it down. Then cleaned the dust and sanded again. And again. Once I did this, I conditioned the wood as was recommended (but maybe not necessary).  I bought the dark walnut stain from Lowe's.

After one coat, I learned a few things about stain. Drips dry fast, and it's very hard to stain a shelf like the one in between the top of the table and the cabinet well. But I persevered and sanded off the drips and added another two coats. Now it has evolved into a perfect TV stand for our bedroom.