A Tulip-Filled Walk

For those of you that don't know him already, this is Henry.

Henry is a wire-haired dachshund that belongs to my parents.  He joined the family shortly after Minnie did.  Henry is vacationing at our house for a few days while his mom and dad (who are also my mom and dad - does that make us siblings?) are off gallivanting in California.

Even though he's sometimes too barky and gets carried off by owls, Henry is a sweet, sweet dog that loves to cuddle.  He does have one slight flaw, though.  Henry suffers from a symptom that causes him to have a bad hair day everyday.

The symptom is called I Don't Like To Have My Hair Brushed and can become a real problem if not treated properly.  I try my best to treat his symptom while he's at our house but it doesn't always seem to work.  I'm worried that it's contagious because lately Lolli has shown signs of the I Don't Like To Have My Hair Brushed symptom, too.

So anyway, Henry's at our house for a few days and today I got brave and decided to take both dogs - on leashes - on a long walk.  And to make things even more difficult, I decided to take my camera with me too.  It was an adventure, to say the least.

This past weekend when we walked with the kids to the park, I noticed tons of tulips popping up around the neighborhood.  Because I love tulips so much, I decided while walking the dogs I would take a picture of any tulips I saw.

These first pictures are of a flowerbed that I love.  It just happens to be at the end of our street so I get to admire it all the time.  I'm envious of their bright, colorful flowers!  In one corner they've got red and pink tulips...

...and on the other side they have peach, pink, and white.

Since these were on our street they were the first ones I photographed.  I took several shots trying to get the lighting right and then, after getting completely tangled up with the dogs and a nearby mailbox, I decided from then on that I'd only allow one shot per set of tulips.  No tweaking my camera settings.  I was not afraid to be the weird girl randomly taking pictures of the neighbors' flowers, but I was not about to be the weird girl randomly taking pictures of the neighbors' flowers and then falling on her butt after her dogs wrapped her up.

Next on the walk were some deep purple tulips.  I've never been a girl to claim purple as her favorite color - I've always leaned more towards pinks - but I really loved the purple tulips.

Some wide open pink ones:

A lone pale purple one:

More deep purples!  These were pretty popular.

Oooh, yellow.  Pretty.

I like this flower bed because of all the different colors.

By this time we were getting pretty close to my turn-around point in the walk, and I was getting ready to call it quits on the picture taking.  But then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw this house.  Talk about tulip jackpot!

Unfortunately there was a mom and baby playing at the house next door, so I didn't want to get too close.  I decided to take the dogs around one more block and then circle back to see if we could get in for some good shots.

Speaking of the dogs, the walk was really easy to manage when they walked like this:

Doesn't that look cute?  Like two best friends, walking side by side.  The problem is that only lasted for seconds at a time.  Then something like this would happen.

Lolli would start strangling Henry with her leash and then she'd just sit down.  Sigh...

The walk around the extra block worked because when we made it back to the jackpot, the coast was clear.  Just look at all the tulips (with buttercups, too!).

I broke my rule and took more than one picture at this house.

This was one of my favorite pictures from the day.  Now I don't know if I like the deep purple or the lighter shade better!

It's a good thing I already had my hands full with the dogs and camera, or I would have been tempted to go back and get some scissors to cut myself a bouquet.  Would that be considered stealing?  Probably so.  I think we will definitely be planting some tulips of our own this fall.

Last Weekend

I was just uploading some pictures from my camera and realized I never posted any from this past weekend with the kids.  I didn't take many because we really didn't do much...just a typical weekend. Friday night we ate at home.  Wyatt asked if he could prepare an appetizer for us so Doc let him.  We each (minus Anna, who doesn't like fruit) got a creatively cut strawberry.

I was actually pretty impressed with his design, but I think next time he needs to figure out how to do it with more than one strawberry!

After dinner the boys headed upstairs to play wii.  Anna brought down a kit she got for Christmas and was finally ready to take a look at it.  It's a kit for her to make her own needlepoint bracelets (at least I think it's needlepoint).  I was thrilled because this is the exact kind of thing I loved to do when I was her age.  I happily helped her get started.

It took her a few minutes to figure out which way to pull the thread through, but once she got the hang of it she was smooth sailing.

She didn't get the bracelet completely finished (she likes to take breaks) and it's all I can do not to go upstairs and finish it for her.  My ten-year-old self really wants to go get her kit and make my own!

Saturday morning was pretty low-key.  We took a long walk to a park and spent the morning playing.  Doc has recently joined a tennis league and had his first game on Saturday.  Since I had a bridal shower to attend, the kids went with him to cheer him on.  I can't wait to go watch him myself!

Sunday after church we stopped by my parents' house and ended up staying for pizza.  I had my camera with me and took this picture of Anna.

I really liked the lighting in the picture so I told her to go grab her brother so I could try to get a good one of them together.

I think the picture of them together turned out well but Doc doesn't like it.  He says they look like they're 18 and 19 years old.  While I don't think they look quite THAT old yet, I do agree that they're definitely growing up.

As if reading our minds, right after that picture was taken Anna jumped on her pogo stick to remind us that she's still just ten.  Phew!

That was about the extent of our weekend.  The kids had to go home early on Sunday so Doc and I spent the afternoon working in the yard.  We got a lot of work done, which is good, except that Monday morning my body hurt all over!  I guess I'm not in summer-yard-work shape quite yet.

All Wrapped Up

When I have the time, wrapping gifts is something I actually enjoy doing.  I love getting creative with it (again, if I have the time and the supplies).  Plus, I think even the most perfect gift is ten times better when it comes in a pretty package. By now, you all probably know how much I love things that match.  So it's probably no surprise then that my favorite way to wrap is to make all of my packages coordinate.  This is especially true at Christmas time because I love for all my matching gifts to be displayed under my tree.  This past weekend I was lucky enough to be invited to a bridal shower for my good friend Kendra, and since three of us went in together for our gift, there were lots of boxes to wrap.  Allison did the shopping for us so I, of course, volunteered to do the wrapping.

I sure hope Kendra liked my wedding colors because that's the theme I went with!  I have enough of this wrapping paper to last me forever.  Seriously, why did I think I needed to much at the time?  The green ribbon on the package to the far left (the bow that's a slightly different shade) is a ribbon that I saved off a gift that Doc and I received when we got married.  I knew I would be able to use it again, and I'm glad I was able to pass it along to Kendra.

Besides making my gifts match, my other favorite thing to do is to think outside the box and get creative.  I like to use things other than ordinary wrapping paper and curling ribbon.  When Allison invited us over for a birthday dinner a few weeks ago, I had several gifts to take with me.  I still had my felt yarn out from Kersten's bedroom makeover and, wanting to do something different, decided to use it instead of ribbon.  I also had a box of cardboard letters that I found in a clearance bin at JoAnn's a long time ago.  I thought they could work for gift tags.

This package was for Chris.

"S" is for Sarah.

Since I already had a "C" gift, Charlie got his first and last name initials.

I was pleased with how these turned out, especially considering I had no idea what I was going to do when I started.

As much as I like wrapping and enjoy giving (and receiving!) pretty packages, sometimes things don't work out that well.  My most disappointing wrapping jobs are the ones where I'm already running late for the birthday party I'm headed to when I realize I still haven't wrapped my gift.  Unfortunately, that happens more often that I'd like for it to.  Then there are also those times where your faced with wrapping an odd shaped gift with no box to put it in (I personally prefer not to use gift bags).  In those instances, like this past weekend when I was wrapping my sister-in-law Erin's birthday gift, you just have to flash your biggest smile and tell the recipient, "Well, I tried."

It did not take her nearly as long to get that tissue paper off as it did for me to get it pieced together and all bundled up like that.

So what about you?  Do you like to wrap?  What's the most creative thing you've used to decorate a gift?

Lamp Brigade

Guys, lamps can get expensive.  Like, really expensive.  I'm not talking about little tiny lamps that you might set on a desk or on a bathroom counter, I'm talking about good, substantial table lamps that hold their own next to a big couch or bed.  Lamps like that can come with pretty high price tags. Take, for example, this beachy-looking caged glass table lamp from Pottery Barn.

Love it!  But for $159?  Holy schnikeys.  At that price, we'd blow our beach house budget after lighting just one room.

I hopped over to Target's website to find something a little more reasonably priced.  I found this Resin Bamboo table lamp for $99.99.

At 100 bucks a pop, that's still too rich for my blood.  We've got a whole house to fill, remember?

All that's to show that the little sources of light in each room that, if done correctly, add a punch of style can start to add up and, if you're not paying close attention, knock out a big chunk of your budget.  That's why when you find yourself walking into an outlet home decor store with a sign that says "All Lamps 60% Off", you grab not one but two buggies.  At least that's what my mom and I did.

First up, this twisty, curly branch lamp.  The picture makes the lampshade look like it may have a few wrinkly spots, though I don't remember seeing those in person.  Even still, replacing a solid white lampshade won't set us back the same way a Pottery Barn (or similar) lamp would.

You know what would be perfect with that twisty branchy lamp?  A white floor lamp with a twisty branchy lampshade. Lucky for us, we were able to snatch the only one in the store.

Don't worry, we plan on removing the plastic wrap when the time comes.

We've decided to use small pops of red in our living room as an accent color.  When I saw this lamp shade, I had to have it.  I know it's a bit on the bold side for some, but I think we'll be able to make it fit right in.  It doesn't hurt that it came on a big white lamp.  Who knows if that's the lamp it'll actually stay on, but either way, it was a good score.

Speaking of that big white lamp, we found a couple  more in the clearance section, I guess because they were shade-less.  Up close they have a few scuffs and scratches, but that's nothing a good coat of spray paint can't fix.  Won't these look great in a bold color with simple shades on either side of a bed?

Now that I'm thinking about it, I kinda wish we'd scooped up a few more of these.  Maybe they'll still have some when we go back.

Once again, I won't go into too much detail about specific costs, but I will say that we were able to bring home all 4 table lamps and the floor lamp for the price of the Pottery Barn lamp above plus ten dollars.  Shazam!

And, just for fun, we also bought these two little sailboats.  My mom and I have said from the beginning that our beach house will be beachy but without cheesy beachy decor - things like seashell mirrors, star fish knick-knacks, and vases filled with sand.  But, we just couldn't resist these.  Won't they look great with our twisty branchy lamps?

All these purchases are getting me really excited for the beach.  Mom and I are going to have to start pacing ourselves or we'll have this thing fully decorated before we even break ground!

Bargain Deals

Now that the secret's out, I can go into more details about all this loot we've been buying! Right now, my parents' garage looks like this:

Full of mattresses, couches, and other goodies all wrapped in plastic, just waiting for their new home.  Unfortunately, they've got a while to wait.

I mentioned a few days ago about my mom's and my spontaneous trip to a furniture store that resulted in me and Doc having to spend the evening in a Uhaul hauling everything we bought.  Now I can show you more details of just what all we purchased that day and brag about show off share with you about the incredibly good deals we got.

First, let's talk mattresses.  We bought box springs and mattresses for three queen-sized beds and one king-sized.  No, they're not top of the line pillow top mattresses, but they aren't bottom of the line either.  My mom and I both laid down and tested out several and we think they'll do just fine.  For comparison purposes, I looked up mattresses on Overstock.com (where you can buy things for cheap, cheap, cheap) to see how much they'd cost there.  I didn't do any extensive searching, but it looked like a set of queen-sized Serta mattresses would cost $433.99.  That price times three would get us to $1,301.97.  Add to that Overstock's king-sized Serta price of $799.99 and that brings us to $2,101.96 for mattresses.

We bought a couch and love seat set that are kinda hard to describe.  I'm not sure exactly what the material is that they're made of.  We originally wanted to purchase at least one sleeper sofa, but when you see a good deal, you take it!  So, we compromised on that and ended up with a matching set, neither of which are a sleeper sofa.  I didn't snap a picture of them before they got wrapped in plastic, but here's a shot of a couple throw pillows we kept out.

The color is weird.  When up against green, they look grey, but up against grey, they look green.  So we're calling them "no color" and working with them like they're a neutral.  Fingers crossed they blend in with everything else we end up buying.

Now, back on Overstock.com, I pulled up couch and love seat sets and this was in the results:

First, let me say that I don't in any way, shape, or form like the couch and love seat pictured above.  In fact, I think they're pretty hideous.  But again, without spending too much time searching and for comparison's sake, these will do.  They aren't top of the line but they don't seem to be the bottom of it either.  On Overstock.com, this fine set would cost $1,297.99.

Moving on to tables.  We lucked out and were able to snag a coffee-table-plus-two-matching-end-tables set.  They're all a slightly distressed black with brown wicker basket drawers.  Here's what the end tables look like (pardon the dust on top, it's in our wood shop right now):

You'll have to use your imagination for the coffee table, but it basically looks the same as the end table, just wider and with more drawers.

I couldn't find a set of three on Overstock.com, but here's a coffee table that's at least comparable:

Today, that coffee table could be yours for $354.99.  I couldn't find an end table on Overstock.com that even closely resembled ours, but you could buy these, pictured below, for $183.99 a pop.  That brings this not-as-cute-as-ours three-piece set to a grand total of $722.97.

As if three tables weren't enough, we also fell in love with a little cute red cabinet.  It could be used as a TV stand or a console table.  It looks very similar to this cabinet from Pier One, but without the weird Chinese dress (is that what that is?) on it.  Oh, except ours is much cuter with some decorative cutouts in the cabinet doors.

This cabinet from Pier One costs $399.95.

By this time in our shopping trip, our buggy was definitely full.  But when you're buying that much, what's one more thing?  At least, that's what I told my mom when I saw this painting:

I know, normally I would just try to copy it and do my own version of something like this, but y'all, this thing is BIG.  And, not only was it already on sale, but I was also able to weasel our sales lady into knocking off a few more dollars too.  Plus, we've already bought some cute fabric to have a blue and brown room so this is just icing on the cake.

I had a hard time finding something similar on Overstock.com (well, I didn't find anything in the first 30 seconds so I gave up) but I did find this print on Etsy.

At 20" x 30", it still isn't as big as our ginormous painting, but it'll do.  This canvas sells for $299.

So that's all we bought on that trip.  Let's add up all of our comparison items, shall we?

4 Mattress Sets - $2,101.96 Couch and Love Seat Set - $1,297.99 Coffee and End Tables - $722.97 Console Table - $399.95 Painting - $299.00

Grand Total - $4,821.27 (minus tax and shipping)

Now, if you ask me, that's a lot to pay for all of our comparable items since they're all pretty U-G-L-Y.  Luckily, none of ours are.  I can't tell you exactly how much we spent on our bargain deals for fear that my investment partners might get mad at me, but I'll say we spent about 85% of that grand total (with tax).  And ours are waaaaaaay cuter and probable better quality than these items.  Don't you just love it when you luck into good deals?  I know I do.