Progress!

Linds and I are nearing completion on painting the little house she's gonna rent from my mom's friend. It's really starting to look awesome.....as they say, what a difference a coat of paint makes! :)

Loving....

In this week of love and Valentine's week, I wanted to share some things I'm loving lately. Lots it seems like making me happy.

Including, a trip with my friend Sarah to visit our friend Amanda in Denver. We thought we weren't gonna make it because of a blizzard there, but we did and we we had the best time! This is a picture of Sarah when we got back to KC and it made me laugh because somehow she ended up with 3 purses.....from here we went to Mi Ranchito- Sarah's first time there! Love it!



This is a really crummy picture but I couldn't get a good one...it's of the bracelet Sarah gave me (she got a 3-pack from our friend at work, Jenny). You keep one in the pack and give two others away.....it's from www.positivity.org and it says positivity on it. A reminder to be positive and have a good attitude! Sometimes I need it....I wear it to work a lot!

This is the new canvas art I got last week for my bathroom on my main floor. It makes me happy. The woman who makes them is a KU grad that works in Boston, but I bought it at a local store here. If you can't read it, in the lower left it says, "We must take every opportunity to make the most of this very remarkable life." Love it.

My mom tried a new recipe from Pinterest last night- a taco casserole bake. The picture doesn't do it justice but it was really good.

Peanut Butter Cheerios. I am LOVING them! I am pretty much told everyone I know. If you haven't already tried them and you're a peanut butter fan, do it!

Rearranging my furniture! Not sure why I love this so much, but here are a few new little spots in my house. :)

Thanks to Pinterest, I did quite a bit of Valentines crafting this year...here is the wreath for my parents house.

This is the wreath on my front door....couldn't do red since the door is red!

Mini wreaths leaning up on my mantle....

And, tonight, we had family dinner with my parents, cousin and her boyfriend.....nothing fancy but tasty and entertaining.

How my dad arrived....he didn't know if the dress code was casual or dressy, so he did both....scarf and black sweats. Looks like he is carrying a purse. :)

The baked zuichinni chips and ravioli....so good!

Linds with the Trader Joe drink my cousin brought...

The heart shaped pizza (courtesy of Papa Murphy's)...

Linds trying to get in the trifle....

A really random game we invented after dinner.....see who can blow the candle out at the furthest distance. Things got pretty wild!

Happy Valentine's Week, friends! Hope you are having lots of things you're loving too. xo

Making a House a Home...

Over the last few months, I've had the pleasure of having one of my BFFs live with me and while she has looked for a place of her own. Well, it worked out that she's going to rent a house from my mom's friend. It's super cute and lots of potential, with a spare bedroom and a MASSIVE backyard for her dog to run all day. Added bonus is that it's close to my house! My mom's friend wasn't looking to become a landlord, so the house needs a little love, especially in the paint department. The fun part is that Lindsay got to pick out the colors herself (with a couple other friends' expert advice).

So, today we finally got started after a couple of months discussion about this possibility. We painted the ceilings in both of the bedrooms and did some spackling. We took a radio over and one of the first songs to play was "The House That Built Me" by Miranda Lambert....not obviously a direct correlation, as Lindsay didn't grow up in this house, but if definitely resonated that this is a new chapter of her life that's opening up. She was brought here for a job, but I'm excited to see my friend find her spot here and feel more at home. I can't wait for the fun times that will happen for you in this sweet little house, Linds!!

Makeover Time!

Somehow I luckily ended up with my friend Sarah's old family rocking chair that her family wasn't ready to part with, (it's been around a long time) but they didn't really have a good place to keep it. So, for now, it was at my house to use until the time came when Sarah wanted it back....problem was that it needed to be recushioned and recovered. As of tonight, problem solved! A couple months ago, I bought some fabric to recover the chair, but I was lacking the skills on how to do it. I have another rocking chair that's going to be recovered with the same fabric. It's fun how a little change can give a room a whole different feel. Here are a few before and after pictures:

Before-

After-

Things that make me happy....

Tulips blooming in my breakfast nook on a Friday after work...

Over stocked...

The other day I came home from work and was absolutely sick of my kitchen pantry and the lack of organization that is going on in there! Turns out I have FOURTEEN cans of soup....btw, I don't have any roommates or anyone else living here. I, Michelle, am a soup hoarder. It's out of hand all of the non-perishable items that I have collected in the year and a half of living here. Wouldn't be a problem if I had a massive pantry like some folks, but my teeny space just can't keep up. Here's what happens....I buy stuff thinking that "might be good sometime" or "that's on sale, I'll buy 3" or "I should buy soup in case they stop selling it." What ultimately happens is that I buy things I know I like and I eat those instead of whatever other stuff I already have at home. For example, I have a freezer full of Lean Cuisines to "try" that I now think sound SICK!

I am envoking the Great Cupboard Clean-Out of 2011 at my house. This means, I am not going to buy an more non-perishable items at the store until these are gone....going to see how long it lasts but I am guessing probably for most of February. I am still going to buy fresh fruits and veggies and dairy products as I run out of those, but I'm going to clean this place up! I would really like to decrease how much processed foods I rely on for quick and easy things and start doing more natural foods.

Hopefully this will result in thoughtful meal planning, equally weight loss, more pantry space and a smaller grocery budget! :)

Here are a few pictures to show the massive quantities that I'm talking about....

My pantry with all of the following foods taken out....there's no room!

Go State!

I love, love, love the K-State Wildcats and am excited to have recently received a cute little vase to help me display my love for the Cats. My parents were at Nell Hill's a few weeks ago and my dad picked out this little gift for each my sis and me to show our purple love. It's basically a bunch of purple test tubes wrapped together, and with some white flowers, it looks pretty festive! Excited to go to K-State games the next couple of weeks! :)

Painted project

When my sister and I were little, my mom had a kids table for us that she painted and stenciled a Cabbage Patch doll on it (is there anything better for little girls?!). It was a table for us to play at, which we did quite often. Thoughout the years, it somehow didn't get sold or thrown away and my parents kept it in their basement storage. Now that I have my own place, and friends that visit with little ones, I thought I should have a place for them to sit, play and eat. I will hopefully stencil some Wildcats on it and may many future Wildcats sit here! :)

Before:

After:

Per request...

For those of you that haven't seen my house and have asked for "after" pictures, I am running with a fleeting whim of motivation and thought I would get up some pics of post-paint rooms and with my furniture moved in. If I never see another paintbrush, that will be too soon! Keep in mind that it's not totally "finished" yet, but getting there!

The bottom of the staircase, complete with a buffet I pre-inherited from my parents.

My dining room in a calm shade of latte, much improved from the crazy dark burgandy, plus my new table for future dinner parties!

The butler's pantry, one of my favorite rooms in the house...didn't paint, but did get a table to go with my bar stools....

Speaking of favorite places in all the planet....I present, my breakfast nook. I spend a least a minute in this area everyday, if for no other reason that it is a great word and I FINALLY found this table for it. It's cast iron. Not something you would want to sit on for hours, but okay for the duration of breakfast.

My living room; painted with the help of friends a delicious shade called "silver sage"....pretty cozy.

My bedroom, we painted a fresh coat of what was already there....

The curtains in my room.....


My guest bedroom...painted latte, same as the dining room.
My office/craft room....love it.

Little corner in my office, perfect spot for my plant that I have had through four moves. The most constant thing in my life, family/friends excluded. :)

My glorious craft table with my old school sewing machine. Much preferred than using my dining room table like I did at my apartment! :)

Thanks for touring!!

If you cook it....they will come....

Last night was the Painting Party....Part 2. Yes, that's right, it's beyond me that people were so kind to come over last week and paint, but yet, they returned last night and did it again! I feel that it could have been motivated by promises of chicken enchiladas. Mmm. Nevertheless....the living room and dining room are now painted (the living room for a second time) and I am getting that much closer to actually moving in! I think they all did a great job!! :)

With the excitement of last night, I also got to use my oven for the first time....so pumped! It worked so well (you never know!) and I captured a few pictures to share.

The first cooked item out of the oven!
My friend Sarah's kids.....too cute and very helpful!
Jennifer hard at work.
The finished product!! Much preferred to the previous dark burgandy color!

Priceless...

Pizza....$25


Drinks....$10


Five friends to help paint my new house....Priceless


Lisa, a physical therapist I work with at the hospital...

Sarah, another physical therapist from the hospital and my neighbor...
Jennifer, one of the social workers from the hospital

There were two more painters, but I didnt get pictures of them in action. We are making very good progress! With the help of some friends, we painted the master and guest bedrooms and the living room, and had a good time no less. I will put up some post-painting pictures sometime soon. :)