A "Pick Me Up"

If this weekend could just hurry up and get out of my hair that would be great. It's been crappy overall. For reasons I don't really care to explain here. But nonetheless... there is one thing that I know can make me happy when I need a good listen, any guesses? MICHAEL BUBLE!!!! Markus came out of nowhere and told me he was coming to NOLA. I about came right out of my crappiness and begged him tell me more :) OK so the best part is he is coming to New Orleans 2 weeks before my 5yr anniversary :) So as most of you can imagine I was thrilled to hear the news. Just thought I'd share. More details click HERE!

Upcoming Projects!

For those of you who are interested... I started a blog sadly almost a year ago and I have really neglected it. It's called My Therapeutic Place. It was started to document the weekend projects and mainly my garden. As many of you know last year wasn't really a year of projects for me. I was pretty depressed and I guess that is why I started the blog in hopes for that to be my outlet. Ha! That was so not happening! Long story short... I will be posting all my fun, crazy, cutsy projects and ideas on that blog instead of my family happenings one. If I think about it I might even do tutorials on there :). So check often if you are into that kind of thing. I also have a link on my side bar too! Enjoy, and Happy Projects!

Dining Room Makeover: Before & After pics!

Yes I know I have been talking about this for a couple of weeks... but drumroll... It's finally done. Well almost. Now I just have to put stuff on the walls. haha I still haven't gotten that together, but for now, here are the Before and After pics. My dining room makeover for almost $50 :)

Only pic I could find of the "Before"... from my cell phone. This is when I decided my table needed to sit at a diagonal in my dining room

These are the old chairs I got from my sister, Natalie... she let them stay outside, bet you couldn't tell?You can tell by the condition and style of the chairs that they were VERY old, but I loved them ever since I picked them up for her at my cousin Amy's house.
My New Dining Room!!!!

Total 180 degrees huh? The "new" refurbished chair!

Remember the back of the old chair?

The fabric!!!
Which I got on CLEARENCE at Hancock's for $3/yd :) It's decorator fabric too!

A detailed look at the "distressed" table and the hot mod chairs!

Well, what do you think? I've heard mixed reviews... but honestly, honestly... I love the chocolate wall. I FREAKED when I painted around the base & crown and saw the contrast... then I put the color on the wall and instantly fell in LOVE! I wanted super mod fabric that would go with the 70s style chairs and as soon as I saw this fabric I knew it would work and didn't have to look anymore. It really helped pull everything together (for me). I decided to go with white instead of staining the chairs just because the floors and the walls were so dark and it certainly puts a nice brightness/newness to everything :). For the table, I got my inspiration for the table from this "All Things Thrifty" post and instantly wanted to try it... I thought screw Christian Street Furniture stuff.... I CAN DO THIS... AND ALL BY MYSELF. Went to Lowes found a color and the glaze and in about 15 mins I had a new looking table. CRAZY!

Cost Breakdown:

Paint: $14.97/Clearance Behr Bed& Bath @ Home Depot (reg. $28.97)
Chairs:
Fabric $3/yd (I needed 1.25/yds) (reg. $12/yd)
Foam/Padding $2.99/yd (needed 2.25/yds) (could have gotten it on sale if I wouldn't have waited 1 wk later to buy)
White Spray Paint: $3.44/can Satin White Valspar @ Lowes (needed 5 cans, booo incl primer)
Table:
Blue Spray Paint: $3.44/can Gloss in Mediterranean Valspar @ Lowes (1 can)
Glaze: $8.98/ smallest little bottle in Asphalt by Valspar @ Lowes (used about 1/16 of it)

For a Grand Total of $52.07(+tax)

I guess not too bad, but really if they would have sold the silly glaze in a smaller quantity (I already bought the smallest bottle they had) I could have come in under budget! Crazy what a little bit of paint and fabric can do, huh?

I Told You!!!!

Didn't I say it was going to be a good year in 2010??? Huh HUH huh??? Ok if the SAINTS are going to the superbowl just think of what this year has in store? Holy cow such possibilities... I'm not really a Saints fan, but honestly you can't help but be happy, proud, excited for them :) Gosh I'm sooo excited for the Superbowl for once, ha! I'm pumped just encase you were wondering :)))))) hehehe Now whip out your fleur de lis! I will be sporting mine for the next 2 weeks. Bring on a great 2010.

Remember that project?

You know that WREATH project I was talking about oh forever ago now it seems like? Well I made one... for Lea-Lea for a late Christmas present. I managed to hang it on the wall long enough to take a picture of it and love it enough to want to keep it, but I didn't. It looks equally amazing in her house on her wall in her bedroom. I don't know there is something dreamy about this wreath to me, don't you think?

Dining Room Sneak Peak

No slacking here

I promise I haven't been slacking off... I just haven't posted in a while. Basically I got these dining room chairs from my sissy and I decided to just go ahead and re-do my whole dining room... My goal is to transform it for $50. I was hoping it would be cheaper, but oh well. So I will post pics when I'm done. So far so good, but I haven't conquered all the pieces in the room yet. Wish me luck!

Ringing In 2010!

I always enjoy New Year's Eve at the In-laws house. It was especially fun this year as we had Fritz with us and he brought along his fun games. It was also Aunt Ursula's last night here, so we just danced (she and Pete) and sang the night away. Great fun. It was too wet for the annual bonfire, but we still had a blast as usual. Here are lots of the pics I took :)Aunt Ursula & Esther (sisters)

All of the girls
**how about the explosion of fireworks in the background**

Pete just lookin' on

Just being funny. It's always fun game to get Markus to smile (good practice for when we have that toddler, *Wink* Wink*)

Ursula having fun with the firecrackers... she's a hoot!

The boys minus Eric

Hehe Eric & Sarah... Looks at Sarah's smile =)

Paper mache mask... oh and Pete's wine Of Course!

Markus in the Mask

**Firecrackers!**

My fun In-laws!

Fritz & Markus just hangin' out

Sarah & Eric (the newlyweds)

Eric was helping light the firecrackers... LOL!

Esther & Sarah (Mom & Daughter)

Just havin' a good ol' time Yall!
P.S. They were dancing to RECORDS!

Fun with sparklers!

Got firecrackers?

Yes singing into the water bottles to their RECORDS playing in the background! I love it! They are too much fun :)

And that's a wrap people. Now for Resolution time:

Make a baby (haha I know right?)
Read my scriptures everyday
Develop a new hobby/talent (hmm I wonder what that will be)
I would say lose weight, but how do you do that with the 1st one? Hmph?
Run/Walk more consistent/regularly
Get better at meal planning
Work on 1 yr's food storage for Markus & I

What are your resolutions? I've given you my short list. But really what do you want to do/ accomplish in 2010?

Ahhh... Love it!

Just happened to stumble across this Dandelion Blowing in the Wind Wall Decall Sticker! If only I could have/get this for cheaper... Anybody? I really really like this. It reminds me of childhood, of the sweet innocence of making wishes/dreams. Ahh yes what a sweet idea! Happy New Year Yall! May all your wishes and dreams become your reality! I'm certainly working on mine :)

I Think I found me a new project...

I spotted this WREATH a while back and I think I'm ready to make one. Man it's so pretty! I think it looks great.

I also spotted this WREATH while looking for the one above.

Oh it's gonna be a fun weekend I can already tell. That's if I don't decide to paint my master bedroom or dining room first. Ha! Wish me luck :)