Not Much Going On

Sorry I disappeared last week.. there wasn't much to blog about. I was busy running here and there. Greg was out of town a few nights so I enjoyed some girl time. Shopping, a lunch date, pool time and some drinks with my friends made for a fun, relaxing week.

Over the weekend we did some odds and ends. We cleaned the house, cut the lawn, fertilized the lawn, figured out our irrigation system and did lots of laundry! Greg spent much of Saturday underneath the Jetta being a mechanic. He figured out the problem, but we couldn't get the part because everywhere was closed. I started packing for our trip out east and preparing some things for my sister's bridal shower.

I am going to disappear again this week, because we are taking a road trip to New Jersey. We are making a pit stop in Baltimore, then headed to Atlantic City for two days and spending the rest of the time with family. Looking forward to vacation and heading 'home'.

xo, Erin

Another One Down

... painted room that is.

The walls in this room were in pretty bad shape. When they listed the house and had a painter come in, this was not a room they fixed. There was still sticky tack all over the walls and ceiling, nail holes everywhere, dirty foot marks from where bunk beds were and spots that needed sanding. I did most of the work in here by myself and am happy with the results. It now feels clean and simple. I went with Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter, color matched to Behr paint. It just needs some blinds and curtains so guests can sleep and dress without neighbors seeing ;)

Here it was on moving day, the pictures make the room look much better than it was in person:

 And now:

xo, Erin

Painting One, Furnishing Another

Life lately has been somewhat calm. I have had time to do some projects and hang out with friends. It's a good balance for the summer... considering I only have about a month before I'm back to school! That happened fast!

I've been working upstairs on a guest room, and as you read this, I am painting the walls. We already had the furniture and bedding from our previous house. This means it didn't need much attention to be 'finished'. I painted the trim a crisp white, Greg patched the holes in the wall (it was previously a kid's room with nail holes everywhere from posters), walls and ceiling need some paint, and then just minor details. We will hang the curtains from the old house, add wall art above the bed, then consider it done. Not too shabby compared to some other rooms in the house that need EVERYTHING.

I also have had some free time to scour Pinterest and Craigslist.. both are good for clearing out my bank account. I scored an awesome Pottery Barn buffet last night for $100 to go in the dining room. I am looking forward to decorating it and adding my floating wine shelves above it. I just keep bouncing from room to room, slowly adding things one at a time.

xo, Erin

Peace Out Bushes

We've been meaning to tackle our front landscaping. It's overwhelming. All this rain lately has been making it grow out of control. We never knew wishing for established landscaping would land us with this mess...

From a distance it may not look so bad. Looking at our house, you can barely even see the windows to the right of the front door. That's a problem.

Up close.. there were holly bushes growing out of control.

So the start of our holiday weekend, before the rain came, we dug in. And we couldn't stop...

We don't know what this bush is.. and it was getting out of control. It was covering half our stone and starting to take over the garage windows. We first tried trimming it up, but were unsuccessful.

We decided to try the good ole' Jeep trick to help us pull it out.

The bush didn't budge. So we got out the chainsaw and it disappeared real quick. A lot of the other bushes need a good haircut, but we are waiting for the fall.

See the bushes under the bottom windows? They were hiding/suffocating under the holly bushes

Not bad for 2 hours of work. We treated ourselves to fro-yo afterwards, so it was worth it!

xo, Erin

5!

It doesn't feel like Friday today, but I'm happy about it. Our holiday weekend started Wednesday night and we have been going non-stop. Here is a peek into what happened over the last week:

1. We took a road trip to Michigan for a wedding

2. There was a photobooth at the wedding.. Greg and I couldn't stay out of there

3. I went to the Gap clearance store and scored some awesome deals, all for under $100

4. We ripped some bushes out of the front, now you can actually see our house (more details next week)

5. After doing a lot of yard work, we decided to treat ourselves to some fro-yo

xo, Erin

Happy 4th!

We started off the holiday weekend last night on a boat. Greg did some wakeboarding.. I did some drinking and marshmallow eating. Today's pool party plans may be cancelled due to all this rain we are getting! Grrrr. We won't let that ruin our day though. Maybe some shopping, painting and drinking later?

Festive Marshmallows
Chocolate chips
Sprinkles
Marshmallows
Graham Crackers

1. Crush up a few graham crackers in a bag and mix in some sprinkles. Pour in a shallow bowl
2. Melt the chocolate
3. Dip marshmallows half way in the chocolate and coat with the graham cracker mix or just sprinkles
4. Allow to harden, enjoy! (We liked them better cold because the chocolate was harder)

xo, Erin

Evolution Of Our Dining Room

I left you back in April with the painted walls in our dining room. We have done some work since then, and for some reason, I forgot to share. I told you we have been busy...

Disclosure: this room is super hard to photograph, I was constantly competing with the windows

First thing was the ceiling. We have lots of gorgeous crown in the room and we didn't want it to all blend together. So we painted the lower tier of the ceiling a neutral tan.

Next up was the light. The previous owners didn't even leave an ugly chandelier.. it was a basic flush-mount light that looked lost in the room. We ordered this pendant light from Crate & Barrel despite the bad reviews. With the $99 price tag, we wanted to give it a shot. There are similar lights out there for $500 and up.

We opened up the box after we picked it up, and the first thing we saw was 'professional installation recommended'. Good thing Greg is a professional ;)

... and Murphy supervised

 1. We turned the power off and removed the old light fixture

2. We mounted the plate for the new light and made sure it was straight

3. We measured how low we wanted the light to hang, and pulled the cords accordingly

4. Greg attached the light to the ceiling

5. Then made sure it was level

This is a close up of what the reviews had warned about. The plate the light comes with is not large enough to cover the existing hole. We bought a piece of trim from Home Depot that we are going to paint white and surround the box with (kind of like mini crown). Hope to complete that project soon...

The final project we just finished a few days ago, was curtains. This definitely helped bring the room together and make it feel more complete. It adds an element of texture and coziness to the room. I bought these curtains from Target in the longer length. We have 9 foot ceilings so I hung the rods high and wide to add height and draw the eye up. They need to be steamed, but I love them.

Those are the dining room updates so far. Looking to add a wine buffet and wall art in the near future.

xo, Erin