Where I Live Wednesday: Entryway

My friend Jenna does a Where I Live post on every Wednesday and it's been a lot of fun to see her gorgeous house and her decor. It looked like fun, so I thought I'd start participating. :-)

I chose my most recently updated space to start with: our entryway. I spent all of Labor Day weekend working on it- when we purchased the house last year, this space was covered in FOUR layers of wallpaper! The wallpaper was attached to drywall which meant it was an absolute nightmare to remove and I had so much repair work to do on the walls it made me want to cry. I had to strip the paper (all FOUR LAYERS!), prime the drywall with a stinky oil based primer, repair the extensive damage with spackle, prime again, sand the walls smooth, prime AGAIN, texturize the walls, and finally paint them. OMFG, a nightmare!! I think there is a special place in hell for homeowners that don't do the appropriate prep work before they apply wallpaper. I imagine they are forced to repair drywall for all of eternity! ha!

So, here are some pictures of the entryway- and yes, I did pick the gloomiest, darkest day to take pictures- it's storming pretty badly right now.

a shot coming in from the front porch:

the wreath was something I threw together last year.

Marty and Pinkie were so curious! Here they are trying to make their escape! The rug was $5 at the Walmart Associate's Store (a store for employees and their families only- it's amazing!).

Please excuse the mess in the background, I was going through all my Fall decor- I can't wait to get started!

above is the entryway with & without flash. The wall color is Olympic's Pony Tail. The valance was $2 at the Walmart Associate's Store. The hook on the right holds the dog's leashes and was only a few dollars at Hobby Lobby. We have a new light fixture to install this week, I'll share as soon as it's finished!

The table and mirror were $100 at Bed Bath & Beyond. They came with a lamp, but I use it in our office. The lamp shown is from Kirkland's and was around $20. The decorative swag was purchased at a local antique shop.


Above shows a shot of the table: one picture frame is from Hobby Lobby and the other is from Tuesday Morning. I just printed off the "S" (our monogram) to put in the smaller frame. I love cheap (free!) art. :-) The other frame holds a wedding photo. The glass container holds Renuzit Crystal Elements- they actually smell pretty amazing. :-)

I know it may not seem like much, but I am so proud of the work I did in this space. If you guys could have seen the "before"- omg, it was terrifying! LOL I can't wait to share the other room I spent Labor Day weekend in-- our guest bathroom! The before and after shots of that space are pretty astonishing. :-)

I'm a bad blogger but...

I haven't posted in a few days- I blame all the insane projects I've taken on around the house- I'll be posting about everything over the next few days! But in my absence I received the MEME award from Jackie! YAY! If you don't read her blog you are missing out! Always funny and completely entertaining. :-)

I always wanted one of these awards! ha! so i love this- and it totally motivated me to finally post something. Here are the rules:

List 7 personality traits...
Pass onto 7 other bloggers who deserve...
Recognition for the personality they share...

So, here we go- my 7 personality traits are:

optimistic- I can't stand Debbie Downers! LOL I tend to look on the bright side of things-and I think that's a good thing. :-)
sensitive- sometimes to a fault. I try to keep this side under wraps, but those close to me know how sensitive I can be.
loving/caring- I'm a very nurturing person (but not very maternal- that's probably weird, huh?)
sarcastic- I'm fluent in sarcasm.
opinionated- super opinionated. But my old age has helped me keep this in check (for the most part!)
type A- I'm hardcore type A. I'm a planner, I make lists for everything, I'm super competitive, I love to multi-task etc. I've been like this since I was a little kid.
affectionate- I'm a lover, not a fighter! lol

I love all my fellow blog buddies and can't pick just 7 of you, so I'm giving it to everyone! Ha! If you want to participate, feel free to. :-)

I'll be back tomorrow with a new post and some pics off all the work I've done around the house this past week- let's just say my Labor Day weekend was full of LABOR!!

October 3rd!

Super super excited to see Kings of Leon live in OKC! I was surprised that it wasn't sold out yet but I managed to score 2 pretty decent seats. I wish they were playing in Tulsa instead but they are well worth the drive to Oklahoma City. Here are two of my favorite KOL songs performed live at one of their shows:

too sweet

this picture has been floating around the internet, I've seen it on a few blogs and just had to post it:

you have to click on it to enlarge and really see how adorable it is.

(Here's hoping the little piglet doesn't end up on someone's dinner table.) :-(

Lovely Sunday

Today was wonderful. I met my friend Amy and we hit up the Farmer's Market, a botanical garden and had a yummy lunch (that included vegan carrot cake!!). I got some gorgeous veggies and this sweet little bouquet of flowers:

Do You See It?

Here is my super random post for the week:

Maybe it's just us, but Mike and I have found celebrity look-alikes for both our dads. Here is Mike's step-dad Randy and his celeb twin:



this guy is Željko Ivanek:

He's been in tons of stuff, most recently Heroes. Anytime we see him in a movie or show we always yell- it's Randy! lol

And here is my dad, Paul:



and his twin, J.K. Simmons:

He's been in tons of stuff: OZ, Juno, all the Spiderman movies etc. It may not be apparent in the pictures, but they are so similar! I think it's mainly their mannerisms and voices, but Mike noticed it first. Weird, huh?!

early inspiration

I've been gathering Halloween decor pictures for a few months now. I normally decorate for Fall, and then Christmas. This year I've decided to decorate the house for Halloween, then Thanksgiving and finally Christmas. I've slowly been gathering items (mainly from Hobby Lobby and estate sales) and I can't wait to share some of the cool items I've collected!

These pictures are from various places- Martha Stewart, Better Homes & Garden's website and random internet searches. This shows some of my Halloween inspiration:

ninety cents

the cost of my new little plant. The pot it came in was clay and boring, so I painted it red. I've had it for 2 weeks and it's still alive! So far, so good.

Found while digging through my vintage cookbooks...

I have a pretty large collection of vintage cookbooks. I pick them up at yard sales, thrift stores and estate sales. I was digging through a box and found this one:


So perfect for us! I haven't had the chance to make anything from it, but I plan to. :-)

Topiaries Take Two

My mom and I made these topiaries last year. They were the first decor item we made right after we bought our house. Fast forward one year and they were looking a little rough! Our mistake was using loose spanish moss in the bag instead of sheets of moss. So, this past weekend, I re-did the topiaries. I am now completely addicted to the sheet moss! I'm just looking for other places to use it.

before:



and after:



See!! So much better. :-) The color is more realistic, the texture is right, love it!









The next step is to find 2 really cool urns. I love the pots we painted, but Pinkie broke one (I've hidden it quite well in the pictures!) and I'm ready for a change.

I'm thinking of aging a few clay pots, or maybe doing some kind of faux paint treatment. I think I'll also switch out the gold ribbon for some burlap ribbon. After the topiaries I'll be working on some mantel accessories. It's looking a little dark up there! I played it safe with the black tchotchkes, but I need some color!

love this

I was cooking dinner tonight- (baked tilapia, wild rice and veggies) and snapped these pictures.

tonight I was using the dish to hold melted butter (vegan, of course!) to brush over the tilapia.

This is a hand me down from my mom and I love it. It's tiny (only holds 1.5 cups), and old (from the 60's or 70's I'm guessing) and adorable.

mmmmmmm hummus!

let me first say that I am by no means an expert on hummus. I make it weekly, and I make it to suit our taste. Here is our basic version:

Ingredients

• chickpeas/garbanzo beans
• a couple of cloves of garlic
• olive oil- just enough to keep it moist
  
• a lemon
• tahini- 2 tablespoons
  

add the chickpeas into your food processor, blend for a few minutes. I slowly drizzle olive oil and add lemon juice into the chickpeas.



I then add the garlic and the tahini


and blend, blend, blend!

that's it! It is so versatile, sometimes I'll add roasted red peppers & sometimes black beans. The best part- it's super inexpensive.

We use it on everything! Veggies, pretzels, sandwiches etc. Here is a look at my lunch today- YUM!

tom & sue

I've begun scanning in tons of pictures of my family- some are super old. I came across these and fell in love with them. The first is my Grandma Sue and late Grandfather Tom when they were teenagers. Looks like they were at an amusement park or carnival. I cannot get over how much Connor looks like grandpa! It's kind of astonishing that none of us saw the resemblance until now. The second picture is from their wedding day. These are so special and I'm glad we'll be able to save them for years to come!

I love having creative friends!

Just wanted to make a quick shout-out to my dear friend Allison for making my new blog header! I love it and I love her! Allison is super talented- she's made me quiet a few to choose from and I'm sure I'll just be rotating them throughout the year. :)

In Love With Mad Men

Mike and I just recently discovered Mad Men- and we're completely obsessed! The characters, the style, the fashion, the homes- love it all.







Perfection:









I want to live in the Draper's house:

floating...

Yesterday we spent the day floating. Admittedly, not my favorite activity, but I agreed to go along! Here are some pictures:


and the aftermath:


my shoulder is sunburned, it was cloudy- but I still should have worn sunscreen!