Monday...

"To freely bloom--that is my definition of success."

Gerry Spence

Craigslist

Are my walls painted yet? Is that horrible mess gone? Can I start decorating yet?

Of course the answer is no. But, I did pick up a few cans of spray paint over the weekend in preparation for a door painting project in my near future. It was the first bit of color I've seen. I'm actually still undecided between 3 choices, but hey what's new?

In anticipation of the time when my days will be filled with lovely fabrics, prints, and colors I've been searching Craigslist. Who doesn't love Craigslist? It's the best! and what better way to spend a little down time at work?

Today I spotted this great peach loveseat from a consignment shop....
And I totally have my eye on those teal shutters in along the wall....

(edit. The original photos were apparently changed on the shops website, so you'll just have to imagine lovely, long, slightly worn teal shutters...)

The shop is about 1 hour away. After things settled down I think it would make a great weekend day trip. Let's home no one else is in the mood for a peach loveseat in the meantime.

Sofee dog.

Monday and Tuesday Jim and I are gone for over 12 hrs. Poor, poor Sofee. All those long hours laying around, trying to catch a few rays of sun through the window, wishing for a field to frolic in. It's just mean to leave her cooped up for that long, so we have a dog walker.

When we moved we were sad to say good-bye to Katie. Katie knew that Sofee loves sunbathing and a good stick. She knew Sofee dog couldn't pass up the opportunity to get a bellyrub from Enrique (the best mailman EVER!). Katie left sweet little notes about their time together. Sofee loved a mid day visit from her girlfriend.


Change is always difficulty and find a new dog walker to trust with out little pupster was not easy. But, after a little searching, I found Christine. She is too cute.

She left me a Mother's Day card from Sofee dog last week. My neighbors have reported that she's so nice and professional. She even took a few pictures during their visit.....

Grilled Chicken & Pineapple Quesdillas.

Dear Jim,

Please make these for dinner...

Love 'Chelle

OCD Heaven

I'm not The best thing about my weekend....buying a shopVac. I don't know how my life was complete without. If you know me fairly well, you know that I'm a clean freak. If you've lived with me you know I have a major issues with organization & cleanliness. Let's just say I spent much of my childhood voluntarily cleaning and organizing my little sister's room. Sounds like a good time to me! If you doubt me, just talk to someone who's lived with me. I should probably be medicated.

That being said, I can't believe I've made it through almost 3 decades without owning a shopVac. This thing is so freakin' amazing. It sucked up all the yucky wallpaper crumbles and drywall flakes and lots of dog hair. Then I wheeled it out the front door to my car and sucked up all the little pebbles and dirty grime complied during our move. Then I wheeled it back inside and cleaned out the radiators. It's like heaven it all being sucked away.

I always assumed it was expensive to own a shopVac or at least a good one. Jim and I were pleasantly surprised to find a smaller version of this one for less than $30!! Score. Best $30. EVER!

Monday...

"He makes his home where the living is best."

~Proverb

During

We set up a few 'safe zones' so we could actually live in the house while we're working. Basically the upstairs is project free and the kitchen is temporarily functioning (until we have to start putting in the new ceiling & lighting)

3rd Bedroom as a temporary media room...

This wallpaper is actually growing on me. Probably because I dread finding out what's underneath.

Guest Bedroom for all the out of town labor I managed to recruit.

Dig baby Dig.

We discovered a lovely wallpaper mural 3 layers deep in the dining room area. It was like a little archeological dig.

Jim has the whole system of steaming and scrapping down to a science.

Finally a clean slate. Now for spackle & sanding

Fence garden

Another project for my list....

(Apartment Therapy)

a love affair.

A patient brought me this chocolate cake last week. Layers of moist chocolate cake and chocolate mousse and a hard chocolate icing. It was a tad bit crazy last week trying to unpack and get life in order at the new house, while continuing with bazillion project we had started over the weekend. I was smart enough to unpack the essentials first, which of course includes the Bailey's.

Coffee with Bailey's... AND chocolate cake! A dream come true.

I don't remember the exact moment I had coffee with Bailey's , but I do know when I started loving them. In the fall of 2003 I started waitressing at Emile's, a family owned restaurant in upstate NY. I had quite a bit of waitressing experience when I started. Mostly chain restaurants that use a system of limited table assignments and overlapping shifts, so that the staff is largest during prime dinning times on the weekends. It's common in these types of restaurants for some of the service staff to leaver earlier in the night, when things start to die down and a small group stays to close the night.

Emile's was famous it's prime rib and the salad bar. Patrons loved it. For me and the other gals, it meant more work; setting up, filling and cleaning throughout the night, and putting it all away at the end of the night. This, combined with the way the restaurant was set up, led to a pooled tip system. All the waitresses put their tips together at the end of the night and it was divided equally. This meant that everyone stayed the entire night.

This also meant at the end of the night we all gathered at the bar for an after work drink. The bartender was usually Karen (I found her picture on the website, so I guess she's still there.)

via

My drink was coffee with Bailey's. I worked there almost every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night for over a year. I had a coffee with Bailey's at the end of every shift. We've been in love every since.

Monday...

"The road to a friend's house is never long."

~Danish Proverb

Sharing a dream

And to make my day even better, Little Green Notebook did a whole post on beautiful long dining room tables. I'm not the only one out there dreaming of fabulous long farmhouse tables and lots of fun chairs. Check it out here. Along with her previous post on finding a steal for a perfect candidate (maybe I can bribe her into shipping it in my directions!)

Eye Candy

First things first. I am NOT planning to be decorating a nursery in the near future. I repeat NO nursery in my near future. But, I did find a new-to-me blog, withTWOcats (via Design Sponge) today and REALLY like the color scheme used in this nursery.

I'm glad that grayish tones are popping up. I've been looking for a blue-gray shade to use in the foyer or living room (after we get through all the dang wallpaper!)

...and I'm so in love with the curtains that I'm tempted to order them even though I have no idea where I would actually hang them.

Other "eye candy" that I will be dreaming of while I'm scrapping & scrubbing the weekend away...

I think I'm stuck on peach...

...and long tables fit for a holiday feast

And let's not forget the foyer, where this little red dresser/desk would look great...

ohhh. I like this even more!

and a nice cozy bedroom to finish up the day. I love the soft tones...

....or maybe a little orange and turquoise

Progress?

So, we're making some progress on the home front. I think?!

The weekend was filled with endless amounts of labor, but we're all moved in. And now surrounded by mounds of boxes & furniture, in addition to the renovation mess we've created.

More wallpaper gone. More wallpaper discovered. (The more we get rid of that stuff the more it feels like our place!) Yard clean up in progress and the first cut is under our belt. A few bumps (and bucks) later, we got a grip on pool care. The kitchen has been scrubbed a few dozen times and we were able to cook our first meal at 10pm Sunday night.

I'm still trying to designate a few 'safe zones' to keep important items, such as car keys, wallet/purse, dog leash, etc. We spent hours scurrying around Sunday night trying to find all the essential items for work on Monday morning. I gave up on finding the iron and settled on a half wrinkle cotton shirt. It was a rough start to the week!

No pictures until the weekend though...internet access at work only until the cable guy comes. Until then I'll be searching the world wide web for kitchen flooring, paint colors, and fun dreamy inspiration rooms.

Monday...

"Big results require big ambitions."

~James Champy

Lemon Leaf Garland

I've been scouring the internet for weeks trying to find a long farmhouse style table.. I spotted g some fantastic hand crafted furniture a few months back and have been set on it ever since. So far, no luck. Between style, price range, and size I haven't found the right fit yet.

(White Flower Farmhouse Shop)

No worries. I have plenty of renovating to get through before I can actually put a table in the kitchen! But, when I DO find the perfect table for my perfect new kitchen, I want my first dinner party to look like this....

I'm sooo in LOVE with this lemon leaf garland. Garland in general gets my blood pumping, but green, orange, and yellow with that dark blue table cloth...heavenly!! (ok. so I'm easily excited!)

DIY instructions can be found here. Feel free to assemble at Casa de Robinson and leave it behind as a house warming gift.

Casa de Robinson

BEFORE...

Kitchen/Dining room.

Note the lovely drop ceiling and metallic wallpaper.

Foyer.

Lovely gold speckled mirrors and more wallpaper.

In fact 4 layers of more wallpaper.

Spare Bedroom. You guessed it. More wallpaper.

I'll save the bathrooms for another day.

Let's just say teal.

and pink!

DIY Chandelier

I wish I was ready to move on to DIY projects like this one....

(from Erin ever After via Apartment Therapy)

Peachy

There was a lot of peach tones going on in my house growing up. pale blue, peach, mauve, mossy green. I think pastels were the "in" thing back then. Then my mom started transitioning over to darker hues. Hunter green, maroon, navy blue.

I've taken a personal preference to earthy tones. yellow, tan, sage, cream. But, I think I just fell in love with peach all over again....

(Martha Stewart Living)

Josie Maran

I was watching E! news at the gym yesterday and saw a segment on Josie Maran's green home tour. I could only find the Access Hollywood version, but I'm sure it's the same basic content.
I love trees & plants.
I love composting.
I love old furniture made new again.
I love fruits & veggies.

I love green living.

I also love finding new all natural products, including her line of cosmetics. She use organic, cold-pressed Argan oil and lots of other all natural ingredients, plus it's packaged in either a recycled product or a biodegradable corn based resin.