Guest Room

As most of you know I'm super excited about the 'theme' of my guest room. My visions are extreme, but I think we can make it happen. And by we, I really mean my dad (and some of me) First of all, it's where I'm going to house all of my purses. I'm not even sure how many I have - when I hang them up I will take an inventory. But that is what my guest room will be based around. I'll be putting up this awesome shelf to hang & store all of my purses - just above the window. The shelf will span one entire wall. It's hard to explain on here, but I will definitely be taking pictures as it's in progress. My dad & I got the shelving last night at Lowe's [my goal will be to get him to hang the shelves before my Housewarming Party on June 7th]. But also to go with my theme I bought some cool art on Art.com & framed them myself. Each picture cost me about $10 - can't go wrong with that! I'm doing the black, pink & white pics and then I'll have bedding to match. I haven't really found a comforter that I like that has those three colors, so I'm debating whether to have my crafty mom make me a quilt. Then I can pick out all the fabrics and it will match perfectly - which everyone know I LOVE to match ;) Here are the four pictures. I haven't decided whether I'm going to hang them like this or one side by side across the longest wall. I'll have to figure that out once the room is more put together. That will probably be awhile...

Clean Sweep

I'm so excited to finally post a blog about this. I ordered Addy (my best friend's daughter) an awesome gift over the internet; a child's cleaning trolley. Sarah was telling me that Addy has been really interested in carrying around the adult broom and doing everything her momma is doing. Since I know Sarah always keeps a tidy house - I thought it would be perfect to get Addy a little cleaning set of her own. I was also hoping that it will help eliminate her fear of her mother's real vacuum. I was so excited the day it was going to be delivered at my house - I was telling everyone at work about it. I hadn't even told Sarah what I got her, I wanted it to be a surprise for both of them. Here is what the box looks like:



And I wanted to meet up with Sarah & Addy after work the day of delivery but it was Thursday. And Thursdays are her normal day to go to grandma & grandpa's house. I was super bummed...but then I got a text message later in the day saying that grandma wasn't feeling well & that they would be staying home. Don't get me wrong - I wasn't happy that g-ma was sick - but I was selfishly excited that I got to give Addy her awesome gift.

Here we are putting together the cart and Addy's taking an inventory of all the pieces.


And here is her first time using her big girl vacuum. She was a little unsure at first, because you can actually turn the vacuum on and it makes real vacuum noises.


And this is my favorite picture of all - Addy cleaning the floors with her bucket & mop. What a cute girl!


P.S. I don't normally splurge on my friend's kids...my normal rule is no gifts - but I really couldn't pass this one up. So I told Addy the next gift she got would be at graduation :)

I did get a text from Sarah a few days later that Addy was scared at first of her momma's vacuum but then she wanted to get down & play with her own cleaning set. So that was a success too!!!!

Finished Bookcases

This past weekend I finished putting together three bookcases for my entrance/office room. I'm sooo excited about them. I'm sure you're wondering why I chose a dark wood - I have a good reason! I plan to paint this room and also add white wainscoting around the bottom. Normally I'm into lighter woods, but I'm hoping this will work with the color scheme I have in my mind. Now I just need to get the courage to paint!

These are the first two I did - they were SOOOO awesome and super easy to put together. I got them from Target and they were extremely heavy, but really not expensive at all. I think the taller one was only $31 - you can't beat that!



This one was more of a pain to put together (and was more expensive) but I like it the best. I love the nine different cubbies; and of course I've already found little baskets to match the curtains. [I actually had those before I even found the shelves.]



Slowly, but surely, my house is coming together...and I LOVE it! Sometimes I sit and think "I can't believe I actually own a house...what an accomplishment!" 2009 has definitely been a year of changes.

Easter Sunday...

came with a lot of firsts!

1. First Easter in my new house =)

2. First crabs of the season - yummmy! Mom decided she didn't want to cook a traditional Easter dinner, so I offered to buy crabs (esp since I just got my tax refund) But also because they are my ultimate favorite thing to eat & once I found out that Roy's had crabs - I just knew that's what we'd be eating for Easter dinner. So my parents came over to MY house and we covered my table with vinyl tablecloths & newspaper and ate until our bellies were full. Then we went for a walk around the neighborhood to burn off some calories!



Finished product (the pile of shells). And a container full of fresh lump crabmeat to freeze. I think I'm going to make a crab/vegetable soup.


3. First time using my lawn mower - I mowed my neighbor/friend, Melanie's, yard. I have to wait to mow mine because my dad wants to kill the dandelions first =) Who know there was an order of doing that!?!

4. First time I potted my own house plant. I know it sounds silly, but I was very excited about this one. I've had this awesome flower pot for almost a year & when Evelyn, George & the kids came to visit this weekend they brought me an inside plant that needed replanting. So I went and bought some potting soil & proceeded to plant it. Now I hope I can just keep it alive & green!



5. Lastly, Zuri's first Easter basket. I just had to add this hilarious picture of Zuri, Felicia's daughter. Her husband loaded this picture on Facebook and I about died laughing when I saw it. I guess she takes after her Auntie Shell with her love of chocolate. Evidently, they were riding in the car and all the sudden Zuri got real quiet. They looked back and she had a Cadbury Cream Egg oozing out of her mouth - double PEW!

Happy Easter

I wanted to do something crafty this year for Easter, but didn't really feel like dying Easter eggs (it's just not the same when you're an adult). So I got this idea from one of my magazines - it's a really awesome vase idea that you could use for a lot of different holidays/themes. You actually have two vases - one inside the other.

This is a side view with my jelly beans & really HARD/stale peeps ;)


This is a top view to show how the smaller vase fits inside the bigger. Then you just decorate that inch of space on each side with whatever you want. I'm already trying to think of what I could put for the spring/summer months to put on display for my housewarming party.


Then this is the finished product! I wanted to wait until really close to Easter to buy fresh flowers, because they don't last very long. I went to town with my parents last night and I got these pretty yellow flowers at Costco. I'm happy with how it all turned out.


Hope everyone has a blessed Easter!

Nothing Runs Like a Deere...

Here is a picture of my new ride! With my tax credit (which hopefully is coming soon) I bought myself a John Deere riding lawn mower for my 3.1 acres. And the cart came free with it ;) I'm really excited about my new toy - I've already taken it around the yard at full speed & then I drove it to my neighbor's house (that's who took this picture) You can actually see my house in the background. I definitely feel like an independent woman riding around on this thing! Who knows what my next purchase will be - hopefully a new bedroom set.



*Don't you just love the matching vest and orange crocs?

Three Preggos & Me

I put these pictures on my Facebook account too (but I know my best friend, Lins, doesn't have an account) so I wanted to make sure everyone got to see them. I met up with three friends a few Saturdays ago in Richmond for brunch. One of them, Jessica, I had not seen in about 10 years! All three are married and pregnant with their first child - they were sooo cute! I love pregnant people - I think they are beautiful. I'm definitely excited to be a mom one day, but for right now I have a lot of 'nieces/nephews' to play with and give back. I think most of my friend's kids call me Auntie Shell (and I love it).

#1 - three lovely ladies in the bathroom (where they spend most of their pregnacy)



#2 - whole group outside the yummy restaurant - Baker's Crust


#3 - my three preggos! (Jessica, Amber & Becky)


Hopefully we'll do another girl's dinner soon and Jessica will be able to come down for that. Peace out!

It's been awhile...

but I'm back. I've been swamped with work preparing for our sponsor's mid-year review. Working until 8 or 9pm sucks - but at least it was only for a short time AND I got credit hours (thank God for my new employer!)

I haven't had a lot of other stuff going on - I met an old friend for lunch a few Saturdays ago, had Becky's baby shower this past Saturday and one of my best friends, Lindsay, just got engaged! I'm so excited for her & her ring is beautiful (and huge!!!) She's planning a May 2010 wedding - can't wait...that means 1 year + 1 month to get in shape to be a bridesmaid.

One of the reasons I created this blog was just to write random stuff that I might want to keep track of, but I'm not much for keeping a diary. I tried once I moved into my new house, but that lasted about 1 week. So I'll write down a few of my recent accomplishments around the house:
-bought a lawn mower. Although it doesn't start...Lowe's is working on that! I wouldn't suggest anyone buying a lawn mower from Lowe's but I couldn't pass up 12 months no interest and a free John Deere Lawn Cart.
-unpacked A LOT of boxes/bags of clothes. Even though I still have a lot more left - I'm trying to at least unpack one thing a night (and so far it seems to be working)
-raked a ton of gum balls. I'm trying to get them out of my yard so I won't have to worry with them when I mow grass.