Benches

Yeah, I might be a little nuts for benches.  But only backless ones, simple, Shaker style.  No spindles, fancy legs, carvings, nada.  I just need 4 legs, a loooooong seat, and some dark stain.  And if I'm lucky, a little wear & tear from being loved over the years.

Except, I have Ritz taste on a Hampton budget (hahahahaha, I kill myself).  I've found so many benches that I love online, but even all of my antique store stalking over the last year hasn't brought me to anything that I love even remotely as close as these beauties...

Beautiful bench, found by Pink Pig Antiques (I just wish it wasn't painted!)



There are also some gorgeous benches out there, if you're willing to spend anywhere in the $500 - $800 range.  That is however, about 2 - 4 times what I'm planning to spend.

• Log Furniture Place - $535
• Antique Bench from the UK - $Priceless
• Broyhill - but it's new - $450

So - Plan H - make one! If it has to be new, at least it can be new that I built, right? I can stain anything as dark as I'd like it to be, and with any luck, there is some spare barn wood from the farm that I can use to make it extra special! Now... check out this bench & these FREE plans!

Plans by The Lovely Ana White & http://countdowntoasimplerlife.blogspot.com/2011/01/anna-whites-rustic-bench.html



Now... to find someone crazy enough to attempt this project with me (hint hint) who also has the tools necessary to complete it (hint hint).

Stupid Livingroom - Post 2

As instructed by my ever intelligent best friend, I took photos of all of the remixing I did on the shelves and console in the living room.  I know I'm going to finally get the downstairs to where I want it to be, and then we'll be moving - but I'll take it while I can get it.

There are 4 different photos of the console, and 4 different photos of the shelves.  The ivory vase/milk jars are new - I bought them at TJ Maxx, but I'm not sure if I like how they seem to blend into the wall.  If they're a no-go, then they'll be returned.

*Also, the random tea lights will need to be replaced with votives, but I seem to have burnt all of mine, so forgive my sad stand-in tea lights*

...this is the only issue with men having no opinion, I end up moving stuff around 500 times, and they still think it looks mostly the same. Ack!

6 years ago today...

St Patrick's Day 2005, I met my husband :) Yep, I went out on a Wednesday night to drink green beer.

Ended up with green beer all over my roomate's sweater, and a great guy.  Yeah, I'd say it was worth the hangover and awful track practice on Thursday - that's for sure! Thanks Mandy for dragging me out, Fred for hosting the crazy party (that I think involved Kamikazee shots), and Katie for doing the beer dropping. Love you guys!

Not the night we met, but old enough... September 2006



Adorable...

Spoiling our god daughter has got to be one of the most fun things I've had the opportunity to do lately! Little girl clothes are so sweet, but as I've recently discovered, can also be hecka expensive! I mean, I love this little girl - but I'm not spending $47 on a top that she's likely to throw up on!

Anyway, I've been trying to find some cuteness to put in her Easter Basket - which I need to give to J&K (her parents) when I see them in the beginning of April. These are some of my favorite outfits that I've found so far - some have been purchased, some I had to let go.

When your daddy's in the navy, you need this dress!

Baby Gap

 No way Mommy K would have let me buy her daughter skinny jeans at 4 months old.  Also, can someone please explain to me how you stuff a diaper into those jeans!

Baby Gap

And this sweater is too sweet, with the little ruffle! omg, seriously. Part of the complete cuteness of baby clothes is why I shop online first.  If I went into a store, I would literally buy everything in site.  Instead, if I slowly shop online, add it to my cart, and wait a few days - sometimes it isn't so cute.  And just because it's on sale DOES NOT mean it's a deal, and I have to buy it.  Although, I may still be working on that last one.

<3 Baby A, you're going to be one spoiled little girl!

Stupid Livingroom

We installed these 4 floating shelves on the wall to the right of the television a few months ago.  They are this 4 piece Wall Shelf Set - but they're black.

The shelves are black, the walls are tan, and we have hardwood floors. I am a big fan of the grey curtains that cover the deck doors, and am thinking that if I could tie in some grey, that would be a good tie-in. We also have great blue/brown/grey pillows on the couches. I'm not sure why I didn't think of it before this week, but I've purchased several blue items that I'm hoping will give some color to the shelves as well as tie in the pillows/couches/curtains!



I've had a mix of candles, mirrors, photos, sports stuff, fruit, pinecones - pretty much everything I can think of on these shelves over the last 6 months.  No matter what I seem to put on them, I feel as though it is unbalanced, and I'm not happy with it. 

I think my biggest issue is the placement of the shelves themselves, as the men chose the location and installed them.  I would like to have a little more height on the shelves, but I feel as though some of the taller items are too heavy for what the shelves can hold.

I've purchased about 15 things from Marshalls Home Goods, and am going to have shelf remix tomorrow night! I've got some great inspiration ideas, and am excited to add a little bit of color to the wall.  So here are the basics....

Living Room by Jessica.Gehman on Polyvore.com

EKTORP
$699 - ikea.com

Aurora 20" Pillow
$30 - crateandbarrel.com

Ainsley Silver Blue Curtain Panel

Crate&Barrel
crateandbarrel.com

Decorative Solid Navy Blue Linen Throw Pillow
bassettfurniture.com

Tempo Velvet Sea Blue 20" Pillow
Crate&Barrel
crateandbarrel.com

Victory Victory Victory

Victory Brewing is one of our favorite brewing companies, and it is made even better by the fact that it's just 15/20 mins from where we live!

Today was Victory's 13th annual Chili Cookoff - the staff, along with some friends & family, cooked-up 18 different kinds of chili!!!! The tasting was free, which made for a great afternoon adventure.  Some were more spicy than others, the flavors were all over the place! One of Kevin's favorites had a great Taco flavor, and my favorite was Cajun inspired.  After tasting all 18, we placed our votes.

The biggest issue may have been the number of people that were there - not all bad, but at some points, the back dining room was PACKED, and ended up being about 10 degrees warmer than I was really comfortable with - LOOK:

Some of the tables were decorated, some people dressed up in costume - I was very impressed!

All in all, I was quite impressed with how well run things were, and the amount of coordination involved in having that many people in one place! We're absolutely planning on going back again next year, and will be better prepared with our own scoring sheet. 

Anger Management - Shredder Style

 Our shredder very kindly stopped working in the middle of my husband shredding all documents we had been stock-piling for several months.

I decided I was smart enough/handy enough to tackle at least taking it apart and making sure nothing was stuck inside of it.  Should be easy enough, right?

Please ignore the Vicky's catalog, I was trying to test shred something while tinkering (i swear).

 Except I was unable to fix it, so Kevin tried to fix it, thinking he could do something I was unable to.  Which he was, it involved actually taking the workings apart, and electrical junk.

This was still not successful, and actually ended with Kevin taking the shredder outside and smashing it with the baseball bat.  So, he got his aggression out, and I need to go to Wal-Mart now. Awesome. RIP Shredder.