Everyone has their own strengths; some excel at math, others grammar. Some are beasts at weightlifting, others at prepping delicious family dinners. My strength would be getting my house ready for a showing. We have been in the HOUSE FOR SALE season for a while now and I'm a self-proclaimed pro at whipping things in to shape before a showing. If I could make a living on doing the same for other houses for sale, it would be my dream job (perhaps I can use my recently acquired Real Estate license to help clients in this regard?).
Read More
With Valentine's Day just around the corner, it's right time you nag your darling husband (or wife) into treating you to a well deserved night out. If you're local, you've made it through the cold of January and hopefully fought off the flu bug epidemic. Dust off your fine shoes, throw on your Sunday best, ladies smooth on some lipstick; gents dab on some cologne. Here are a few of my favorite Local Grown Restaurants to visit on Valentine's Day.
Read More
If you read any of my whopping 6 blog posts to date, you'd know these things about me: I dislike holidays (because I find them outrageous) and balancing out the like/dislike scale is my extreme like of painting furniture. So, as I'd stated in the New Years Eve(ish) post, this one, I made no resolutions for the coming year, but vowed to participate in a Baking Challenge: led by Sally of Sally's Baking Addiction where each month I would make and bake a new treat by her recipe and then share the results on social media. This months Baking Challenge...
Read More
In my previous chalk painting days, I found one of my favorite parts of redoing a piece was learning about where the piece came from or even the "how" of taking it on as my own. I'm naturally a bit of a Nervous Nelly, when it comes to meeting new people, so when I started the endeavor of furniture picking, I had to step outside of my comfort level and know that I was going to take some chances when it digging for just the right piece to paint. Fortunately, I always made it out without a scratch on each pick up and from time to time would be pleased to find I'd left with a new friendship to put in my Rolodex. One piece that comes to mind when I think of friends I've made along the way, is a...
Read More
I would say our family stays in hotels more than the average bear. We enjoy taking the kids to new places and back to favorite old spots. We enjoy a night away without kids on the rare occasion and work travel is part of the husbands job description. I can't speak for the venue husband stays at when he travels, but when we travel together, skimping on a hotel is not something we do. We like a little pampering and luxe and our hotel choices tend to fall in line as such. However, as of late (maybe it's just a bad run) I have decided hotels are the worst. Maybe like Danny Glover said in Lethal Weapon, "I'm too old for this shtuff," but here are the five reasons...
Read More
There's nothing quite like living in a small town and those who live in sprawling cities just wouldn't understand the excitement that comes when a new place of business moves into town. The slower pace of life allows passerby's to gaze with wonder and speculation at what the new place will become or what the old is being transformed into. Just recently, a beloved clothing shop on our towns square, relocated across town and as the lights in the little old building went out, we all wondered what would bring it back to life. Each drive around the block, our community caught a glimpse of..
Read More
A couple of years ago, it seems like ages, I became a furniture painter. I loved chalk painting pieces for myself, starting with my own bathroom vanity, pieces solely to sell, and I even got to paint custom pieces for others. It was a fun time; quite good therapy for a young mom and I felt proud of my work and delighted when someone called me to do something for them. I would always feel a little bummed when someone said they just wanted white. I loved to create my own colors and when customers turned me loose and said to do what ever I felt like doing, it was a thrill. Such a thrill, in fact, that
Read More
Yesterday, the first day of what is to be the best year yet (I seriously LOVED 2017 so 2018 has a big shoes to fill), I read post after post of New Years Resolutions and tried my best to muster up a few of my own. I had nuthin'. I have some big plans for the year starting with using my recently acquired real estate license and growing this life and home blog. I'm just not a resolutions kinda gal it seems, but...
Read More
Ray Charles said, "Christmas is the time of year, for being with the ones you love." I was fortunate to have been able to fulfill Mr. Charles's Christmas prophesy this year, but unfortunately not with the Spirit of Christmas that he was likely singing about. I've never been one to fully get into the Christmas spirit; always just getting by with as little decor as possible and fretting and complaining about what to get for others. I usually end up having a Blue, Blue, Blue, Blue Christmas by the time the day has come and gone because I've reached a max on just how much over-doing I can take. It's no secret...
Read More
I NEVER want to build a house. Ever. I took on a kitchen renovation over the summer and it just about killed me. Don't get me wrong, I'm looking forward to many more renovation projects in my future, but I will use some major lessons learned from this little endeavor and get myself a serious grip on reality before just jumping right on in there. One of the most important things I learned was..
Read More
In our house, we never get off Scott-free without catching every bug that passes by. One of us is usually sneezing or coughing and as nature would have it, about the time one sheds the crud, another of us picks it up. I do try to do my due diligence and sanitize (to use chemicals or not to use chemicals, that IS the question), wash my hands until they feel like a dried leaf, and referee both kids from invading one another's space (did you seriously just lick your sisters face!?!) But, here we are again...
Read More
She’s not 25 anymore. She’s 26 today. And as beautiful as she was the day our grandpa nearly rolled out of his chair laughing at her new hairdo. Shemay have been 14 or 15; I don’t remember now, but she’d colored her hair or cut it and our dear sweet and unfiltered patriarch of the family thought this was the funniest thing since Barney Fife. You just had to be there.
I don’t remember the day...
Read More