Monday Pick Me Up

Today is a rainy, dreary Monday here.  To help pick everyone up on this rainy Monday (and to help take us into March), here's a giveaway of a $35 CSN gift certificate. 


Not sure what to get? Well may I guess these lusts: 

This Eames lounge chair to relax in with a good book: 

This living room set looks wonderful to cozy up around a fire: 

Or, perhaps an outdoor sofa would help get you ready for Spring: 

While you're at it, how about some outdoor furniture for the pup as well: 

Let me just say that I love CSN's pet products because lots of their doggy models are Vizslas--like this adorable one on the front page of dog beds :) 

To enter the giveaway, simply follow the blog and leave a comment below. This giveaway will close Sunday, March 6th at 11:59 PM, and the winner will be chosen at random on Monday. 

Good luck everyone :)

Friday Confessions

 At least it was all black unlike this awesomeness above..

1. I forgot tennis shoes and workout pants on Monday, so I did Zumba in my socks and leggings. Keepin' it classy. 

2. My biggest pet peeve is when skinny people say they need to lose weight or need to diet.  Stop being so insecure and love the person you are! Working out and eating veggies should be to promote a healthy lifestyle, not to starve yourself and then burn off those few calories you do eat.  I seriously wonder about what our society is making us become..

This little girl is only 4...

3. I saw TLC's Toddler's and Tiaras for the first time this week.  Oh. M. Gee. This was totally like a trainwreck--I just couldn't look away.  I don't mind pageants, I just mind pageants that steal children's innocence by trying to make them into 20 year olds.

 or dressing your toddler up as Madonna...

Plus, the show kept bringing back memories of the creepiness of Jon Benet Ramsey. I can only imagine TLC will have a show about their eating disorders and insecurities in 15 years. Needless to say, it absolutely reconfirmed that my future children (both boy and girl) will be in team sports. 

4. One of my favorite hair products is Psssst Dry Shampoo for blonde hair.  When I wake up late (or am just too lazy to get in the shower), it really is a lifesaver. 

5. I had a nightmare this week when I refreshed the MLS listing of the house I want, it said "pending."  I immediately drove by the house and Rajon Rondo had bought it and was building a giant basketball court with a Celtics logo (and complete with the Celtic's floor) in the backyard.  I was impressed to be meeting Rondo, but I instantly hated him for stealing my dream house. I immediately woke up and refreshed the listing to ensure it was just a dream. I am rather obsessed with selling this house.

6. I LOVE basically every vegetable, but I think brussel sprouts and asparagus are my favorite.  I made teryaki brussel sprouts last night--delish! I know, I know, I'm super weird. 

7. I've quit reading for class.  It's just been a week, but that is the beginning of the end for reading.  This weekend needs some intervention to get me back into the groove of being a student. 

8. I jump every time the phone rings, but I am slightly disappointed that it is not someone wanting to come look at the house.  It's kind of pathetic. 

Thankful Thursday

1. Ritzy. Today is pup's 4th birthday and I am very thankful for all the happiness and love she brings to me.  There really is nothing like coming home to the unconditional love of a dog every day.  But obviously, she's a little bummed to be getting older...

Clearly, we're all praying for wins in March.

2. That UK fans can pack the stadium during March Madness so these poor boys don't have to play real road games. 

3. Innocence Project.  After five months, the prison finally approved our attorney/client meeting. I'm so ready to talk to our client so we can help answer the many questions we have in the case. 

4.  Vacay. Our wine tour in Chile is booked and my updated passport came in, so now most of our big trip is finalized! I'm thankful to be taking the trip of a lifetime.

5. Graduation.  I'm ordering my cap and gown this week--I'm so thankful to be getting out of here. 

6. Rain.  If it's gonna rain, I'm thankful we're getting a flood during the week and not this weekend. 

What are you all thankful for this week? 

House Update

Our house is still on the market, but the house we want is still for sale as well.  Here are a few updates from last week:

Laugh all you want, but I broke down and bought a Saint Joseph statute at church on Sunday.  For those who don't know the background story, legend has it that Saint Joseph will intercede to help you sell your home if you bury a statute of him upside-down in your yard.  The nuns used to bury these statutes and pray to Saint Joseph when purchasing and selling land for convents, and it has become a common practice for people of all faiths.  I can't help but hope that we Catholics may get an extra hand because, well, we consider him a saint. Plus, you better believe I'm saying that novena to him nightly as well. Cam thinks it's ridiculously hokey of me; but I figure the power of prayer can't hurt anything and just maybe Saint Joseph will offer up a few extra prayers to help get this house sold a little faster. I know ladies, I know, but this just goes to show how incredibly badly I want to sell so we can buy the other home. 

The positive is our house is getting quite a bit of traffic.  Over the weekend, we had 2 showings and an open house where three families came. Basically, I've been cleaning the house and baking cookies all weekend so it smells good. All 5 gave us generally positive feedback--every single person loved the house and had no suggestions for changing the inside.  The kitchen remodel has gotten great comments and no one has said anything about it being overpriced. In fact, we have been told that our house would already be sold if it wasn't for the size of our backyard.  While I'm happy the house shows well, it is so incredibly frustrating to hear the only negative thing is something we have no control over. 

We have a decent size front yard and a large side yard; but, our neighborhood is in the best school district and parents with young children apparently want a big backyard for the kids.  I keep telling myself that someone will look beyond the size of the backyard and notice that: we have a decent front and side yard, we are on a double cul-de-sac so kids are safe to play and run around, anywhere, we are two blocks from a huge park, we've done a lot with the space (a larger deck and a patio with firepit), and who wants to cut a huge yard?!  Plus, all the homes are generally on smaller lots here so it's not like there are tons of huge lots around here. 

I should be clear, not everyone mentioned they thought the yard was small, but it's the only negative feedback we have gotten so it is what I probably focused on now.  I'm just ready for the right buyer to come walking through that door. Geez, it's only been a week and I'm clearly incredibly impatient. 

Any ideas on how to stage the yard to make it feel larger?

Miscellany Monday

This past weekend was a blast.  Besides going to shoot hoops at Rupp (which again, I promise will be its own post with lots of pictures once hubs sends the photos to me), we ate like fools.  Friday we went to Pazzos. I tried their Garden of Eatin' veggie pizza, and it was delicious. It may be my new favorite pizza there. 

Saturday morning I volunteered with the Habitat For Humanity ambassadors to do paint bulking.  In what I think is ingenious, Habitat is now taking paint donations of latex-based paints.  They are able to re-mix these paints and sell them. Plus, they are selling the old cans for scrap metal.  Overall, you don't have to go through the hassle of disposing of your paint and Habitat makes money--a win/win for all. 

Once the paint is donated, Habitat sorts the paint by color family.  We decided to bulk the earth tones, so we began opening those cans of paint.  Interestingly, paint can go bad--really bad.  Old paint can begin to go putrid and smell disgusting.  I'm talking I-choked-on-the-smell-and-almost-vomited-right-then-and-there disgusting.  I don't think I have ever smelt anything worse. 

Here's a glimpse into just a portion of the bad paint we found.  Clearly, bad paint can't be used, so we have to dispose of that paint and try to salvage the cans for scrap metal.  

 

Once paint passed the smell test, we had to mix it up because it had been sitting for a while. We used power drills to agitate the paint.  I am telling myself that the lighting is bad because hopefully I'm not really that red and my hair doesn't really look like that.

Joe and Kevin pouring the paints over the shifting screens and into the drum.

Once the paint was ready, it was poured into a large drum with 4 paddles that stir all the paints together.  

Toa cleaning out the empty cans.

The empty containers are then filled with sawdust and scraped by hand to remove all the liquid paint. The cans were then crushed so they are ready to be sold for scrap metals.

Once the paint was done mixing, we got to name our color.  We decided on "Awesome Oatmeal" because, well, it's awesome. We made 45 gallons of Awesome Oatmeal, which is now on the shelves at the Habitat Restore. 

On a completely separate note, Cam's mom flew in town for the weekend so on Saturday night we went to Jonathan's for Cam's birthday dinner.  Okay folks, this meal was one of the best meals I've ever had. I've even been to Jonathan's before, but his current menu is my absolute favorite. If you go, definitely get the fried cheese grits with banana pepper sauce. Delicious. Every person loved their entree and were practically licking the plates clean.  For dessert, we got the caramel pound cake and bourbon ball cake. Both were amazing. Top it off with Cakebread wine--best meal of my life.  

Thus, if you have something to celebrate or are just willing to fork over money for good food, definitely go.

Tomorrow I'll do an update on the house--yes, it is still on the market. Hope ya'll had a good weekend!

Thank God (It's) Friday

So yesterday was pretty busy, so I didn't get a chance to do the normal Thankful Thursday. Instead, today I'll do a Thank God it's Friday post today.

1. It's finally Friday.  Every day this week, I have at some point thought it was Friday.  Basically, this week has dragged on. But Friday is finally here my friends. 

2. Fingers crossed.  I am so incredibly thankful that someone came to look at the house this morning (finally--its the first showing).  We haven't heard any feedback, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed and prayers flowing until we hear back. 

3. Living a Dream.  Last night Cam and I got to shoot baskets on the floor of Rupp Arena and go through the locker rooms.  I took lots of pictures and will do a whole post next week with all of them.  For now, here's a quick teaser of Cam standing in front of the national championship basketballs between Kanter and Knight's lockers. 

4. Hello Sun. After months of snow, it is finally so incredibly warm outside. I am gonna take Ritz to the dog park a little later with my friend Kristin and her dog. 

5. Buen Vaije. We've been so distracted with our house being on the market that we had almost forgotten how close we are to the big South American trip.  Only a few more weeks :)  

6. Shiny and new.  I hate our dishwasher with a passion.  I actually don't think of it as a dishwasher, I call it a sanitizer--it doesn't wash anything, it just gets hot.  Well, it finally died this week so we have to get a new one.  While I'd rather not put any more money into the house when we are selling, I won't be sad to see our crappy dishwasher replaced with a nice one that actually cleans. 

7. Good Eats. We are going to Jonathan's this weekend to celebrate Cam's birthday.  Need I say more...? I'm really looking forward to that deliciousness.

What are you thankful for this Friday? Hope ya'll have a great weekend!

Wordless Wednesday

Ten on Tuesday: Ten Fabulous Steals

I have found some FABULOUS steals lately, and I wanted to share my lovely finds. 

From the Gap:

First, I will say that their in-store sale was an additional 50% off lowest marked price.  But, you have to get beyond their grouchy workers.  Seriously, my friend and I were laughing that they seemed so mad that we were getting good deals...

 

1. Modern Boot Pants: $9.99 

These fit me like a DREAM. I want them in every color, but they only had navy in my size. 

2. Button Funnel Neck Sweater $4.25

 3. Shawl Zip Sweater (mine's in ivory) $7.25

From Talbot's Outlet: 

This place is a gold mine ladies--tons of work clothes for pennies.

 4. Merino Wool Blend Dress (mine's in black and doesn't cling to my rolls like it does on this model) $39.99

5. Irish Linen Dress (mine's brown and more fitted, like the one below) $17.99

6. Silk Sheath Dress $17.99

7.  Long Patterned Jacket $39.99

 8. Navy Brocade Jackie Jacket $29.99

From Saks Off Fifth:

(Sorry folks, this coupon was the best picture I could find)

9. Diane Von Furstenberg Sina Leather Boot (mine's in black) $150.00

From White House/Black Market:

10. Heather Wool Dress $19.99

Miscellany Monday

1. Le Sigh. Here are the requested pictures of the new home--with one major caveat: if any one buys this home out from under me, I will hunt you down. Seriously.  If it sells, I will stalk the PVA to figure out who ruined my dream. 

I know it's a long shot that our house will sell in time for us to buy this one, but it's worth the try, right?  Again, if anyone wants to buy our house (or pass our house details on to friends who are looking to buy), you would make my (and hubby's) year :) 

Without further ado, here are pictures of the home we are lusting after: 

 

It's on a half of an acre in the neighborhood my husband grew up in.  We love the outside; but, the inside cosmetically could use a little work (which is right up our alley).  It would be a forever home--if we get it, we plan on staying put and making it exactly what we want.  I love all the windows and the natural light and the bones of the house are great (detailed crown moulding, cherry built-ins, roughed-in basement, hardwood floors).  That said, I should point out the bathroom, upstairs carpet, kitchen, and color scheme need some updating. 

Fingers crossed that someone comes and looks at our house soon so we can hurry up, move in, and start sprucing it up!

2. Weekend.  Although neither of us would admit it, we were both hoping to at least show our house once this weekend since it went on the market Friday.  No such luck.  But, we spent a significant portion of the weekend cleaning up the house and the yard.  Saturday we watched the game and went to Panera for a quick dinner.  First of all, when did Panera start putting calories on their menu? It is an ingenious idea, but it definitely changed around what I order.  Clearly, I hadn't been to Panera in a while.  

 We wanted to try out Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt, but my gosh I see now why they are opening up three more locations.  There was a zig-zag line throughout the store and literally out the door around the sidewalk.  It was so crazy we decided to immediately turn around and just go get a Blizzard from DQ.  Not froyo, but still delicious. 

After polishing off our blizzards, we headed to the Beer Trappe. 

We had never been and were very pleasantly surprised at what a fun place it was.  We went with another couple (he's in my law class and she's in Jr. League with me)--it was great to just have a relaxing night enjoying good beer.  The most interesting beer I tried was the Three Floyds Gumballhead. It had a lot of hop to it and is a great spring/summer beer (i.e., it got me prepared for this wonderful 50 degree weather we are supposed to have this week). 

On Sunday after church  I came home and napped (I'm still recovering from my extra long week) while Cam cleaned up the yard and washed the cars. Does he win the award for best hubby ever?  Cam's brother hosted family dinner night and it was good for the 4 of us to get together. Hope you all had a good weekend!

3. Be mine?  Cam and I never really all out celebrate Valentine's day. Between Christmas and both of our birthdays, it kind of gets lost in the shuffle.  We generally have a $25 policy and cook a nicer dinner together.  Tonight I have night class, so we will keep it even more low key than usual.  What V-Day traditions do you have? What are ya'll doing to celebrate?

Have a great Monday and Happy Love Day! :)