Birthday Presents!

Soooo I'm a little late in discussing this topic seeing as my birthday was 4 weeks ago, but I wanted to share these wonderful items that Ryan got that I *hinted* at for the house.

A shower curtain! Whoo hoo! I wonder if anyone has ever gotten a shower curtain as a birthday gift before? I'm okay with being the first. I love it, it goes great in our bath!

These white lanterns with battery operated "candles" in them for the mantle. These are all over Pottery Barn this year and I love it but I got these for a little bit more reasonable pricing at Home Goods thanks to a wonderful gift card from Bonnie and Bob!

Yes this is a french horn. If anyone loves How I Met Your Mother, you may remember Ted stealing a blue french horn from a restaurant on his and Robin's first date. I saw this at Pottery Barn and said "I need it." Because of HIMYM and I mean just look at it, it's amazing. I think Ryan thought we needed it too because it is now in my possession. :) I LOVE IT!!!!

One of the first rules of my decorating realm that Ryan gave me was "Just no fleur de lis in like every room okay?" So it's funny that he bought me a clock which he picked out (very well I may add) with fleur de lis on it. Can't wait to find a permanent home for this lovely timepiece.

We'll find a way to piece all together. In the mean time, everyone harass Ryan that we need to paint this weekend!!!!! :) THANKS!

Movie Review: The Switch

Short and sweet movie review: The Switch with Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman.

I looooove me some Jason Bateman. I know he is not very versatile but he tickles my funny bone and he just seems like a nice guy ya know? He is definitely this in "The Switch", but is also a little neurotic. It is definitely one of Jen's better movies to date. Maybe the best since "Rumor Has It"- I realize I may be alone in characterizing that as good, but I liked it. Anyways, it wasn't a lot of "comedy". I liked the story, I liked the people in it, but if you're in the mood for an lol kind of night, this is probably not your best choice for netflix, redbox, or whatever new method of instant movie gratification you may be using. The kid in the movie named Sebastian (can you guess what kind of kid he was a) playful b) pretentious?) is hilarious. The kind of kid you want to hug because he is so far off from the other kids and you know will get his a$$ kicked on a regular basis. Jeff Goldblum offers quite a bit of hilarity as well when he is present, but for being a comedy it has a pretty serious storyline. (Guy steals best friend's sperm donor's ... donation, supplements it with his own. She has the kid... yada yada yada.) Overall, I would definitely recommend it because it's lightly serious and I love Jason Bateman.

Grade: C mmm -

Sesame vs. Springview Green

Dear Benjamin Moore,

Your paint colors frustrate me.

Springview Green.

Clearly these are two different colors. Complimentary, but different. Am I right?

Let's start at the beginning. We decided to paint our den area and the adjacent bathroom first in tackling our painting projects. The logic was to enable us to complete a communal space early on. I wanted the colors to go together well and I wanted them to be light since we do not have a ton of natural light in our house (more about that later). 

This is the den before: 

 Yeah. It had to go. Just couldn't handle the odd coral/ mauvey/ lavender-ish colors. In the den room, we painted it Springview Green. It now looks like this:

The curtains will be changed, yes, and the lay out will be adjusted soon, but this is just so you get the color scheme idea!

The theme is black and white with a light green background. :) So, next I will introduce you to the bathroom before pictures:

Lavender! and more Lavender! 

Gone. 

Now after a nice coat of Sesame, some new hardware, towels, and a sweet shower curtain it looks like this:

 Love me some oil-rubbed bronze hardware! Looks like we're a little low on some tp ; :

I love the coloring. It looks great, however, one problem.

They look like the same color!!!!

It's not really a problem per se, it's just not what I wanted. Or expected. The colors will do for now, but Benjamin Moore- you have deceived me for the last time! I will always always get the little samples and paint the colors on the wall from now on. Staring at paint swatches apparently doesn't cut it when discovering what paint palette you want to go with. Painting is all about trial and error! Hopefully less error next time :)

We will keep you updated on lay out, decorating and more in the bathroom and den. Please let me know if you have some decorating ideas or hints that could help next paint time around!

I Heart Craigslist

I heart Craiglist. I love the concept, I love the community, and I love the iPhone app. I love it. Those aren't even the best reasons why I love craigslist:

 My first craigslist success came with this lovely outdoor 6 piece dining set. It's in great condition, only a couple of spots where rust has come in but they are barely noticeable. I got the whole set for $70.00 from a girl who posted on craigslist because it came with her house and she wanted something different. The cushions came from Garden Ridge at $29.99 a pop. That's a 6 piece dining set that goes nicely under our pergola for only $250.00. We have already used it a ton to enjoy nice evenings or to do work on a lovely 80 degree day like today! Pumped.

Yes, this is my dear happy place. My wine table. Brand new, still had the stickers on it but the guy didn't want it anymore. He put it on craigslist for $40.00 It holds 16 bottles of wine so if anyone would like to help me fill it up so it doesn't look so bare I wouldn't hate ya! :)

Last but not least, the amazing recliner I told you about last week. Craiglist perfection. $125.00 for a slice of heaven :) Thanks craigslist!

I definitely am cautious when looking at craiglist but a lot of times, (as in the case with 2 of the 3 items above) people are given items they don't need or buy things that don't end up working in their scheme and just want to get rid of them. They either haven't used or barely use the items and end up passing it on to those of us Craigslist window shoppers who just can't pass up a good deal. I'm sure there will be a time when I jump on something I don't need it or it ends up being a bad decision, and I promise I will blog about it, but until then, my heart beats strong for craiglist!!! Next time you need something be sure to check it out first, you may find what you are looking for and more!

Pinterest- The Greatest Thing Ever

Pinterest is an awesome website. It's a social site where you can go and look through images, ideas, products, etc. of all sorts of things from home items, fashion, wedding items, film, music, everything. You can also put a "pin it" button on your bookmarks bar so if you see something you would like to be reminded of or something that inspires you for an outfit, a hairstyle, or a room you are in the middle of decorating, you can "pin it" to your board.

I mostly wanted to tell you all about it so that you could see it and let me know if you would like me to invite you. (It's an invitation only site)  If you would like to see an example of one of my boards which is a cluster of ideas that I like, you can go here http://re.pn/b/9EF9 to my link. Look around and see for yourself. It's a lot of fun and definitely addicting!


Some images from my Pinterest Board:

Happy Pinning!

Oh and P.S. Please "Follow" my blog! Thanks!

It's Weird That Chairs Exist When You're Not Sitting in Them

Well after feeling like we may have a lack of seating problem we got rid of this anxiety quickly in the past week! It started at World Market. I had a $50.00 of $200.00 coupon (WOW) and a birthday coupon for $10.00 (SWEET). After browsing around the store, I kept coming back to this perfect comfy arm chair.

After much debating and texting back and forth with Ryan, we decided we're doin' it. We are going to get the chair! Woo hoo!

BUT

They didn't have any more khaki covers besides the one on the floor model. They were on back order until the end of July. Boo. Well can I take the floor model? 20% off??? Done!

Can't fit it in my car. Double Boo.

Mom to the rescue! Put it on hold and the next day my Mom took my coupons and money to World Market only to find that the gentleman who had offered me 20% off the previous day was not there and the guy who was said no dice. But I want 20% off!!!! Mom argued (I can only imagine the tone!) and we got 10% off. And a new chair with a floor model cover. Boom. Awesome.

Doesn't it look lovely next to the window in our bedroom? Can't wait to cozy up with my blanket and a good book before bed in our new bedroom chair. I feel so grown up with a chair in my bedroom :) Oh and in case you were wondering the chair was originally $249.99, and with all of our wonderful discounts it was $175.00 with tax. Savings! Gotta love it!

Next, we got lucky. That's all there is to it.

My boss has had a recliner sitting on a very high shelf in the warehouse for awhile now. A nice, creamy colored leather recliner. I asked him if I could have it. He said yes. Boom. New Recliner.

It needs a little TLC with a tear in the arm and a tear in the back but Free is Free and it is a very nice recliner otherwise. We will definitely enjoy doing all the things a recliner is good for like reclining, and sitting, watching TV, reclining. . . You know.

And then another pride and joy of my Elite Craigslist Shopping Habit- a black leather Ashley Recliner. Found on Craigslist for $125.00 which was bought last year for $800.00. We had been looking for a black recliner at all the furniture stores around town and nothing felt right. Or if it did feel right it wasn't priced right. $800.00 for one chair? Maybe in a few years. Then our dreams came true.

This recliner is amaze-balls. The most comfortable recliner I have ever sat in. It's like a cloud with arms that just wants to hold you and make you feel like everything's going to be all right. Just lay back now, and dream. Smiles....

We will be fighting over this recliner EVERY. DAY.

So we have enhanced our seating room in the last 7 days and I love it. Pat myself on the back for finding free recliner, amazing recliner, and extremely discounted comfy arm chair?

Don't mind if I do.