kelleytime...

Going Grey...er, Gray

2011-10-19T14:41:00.013-04:00

I updated the ole blog a bit. It might be kind of hard to read now, but whatever. Not like I have any actual readers anymore (or ever).

I've been going through a fairly major style overhaul at home. It all started when we decided (again) to get rid of our couch/sectional.

See, we have a tiny living room with no full walls. Here's the best view I have, pre-move in.

The wall on the right is our most "full" wall. The other walls consist of a fireplace with built-ins, windows, and the "wall" at which I stood to take this photo is not really a wall at all. It's our "foyer"/"connection spot" to the dining room. See? No walls to work with.

Basically, we've gone through 3 couches to date. Right now we have one we are quite happy with and are waiting for another to arrive in early November.

Getting back on track, the style makeover has moved from traditional/arts & crafts to mid-century modern. I have so many colors in my house, I just up and decided to go grey - all grey. With pops of color in the accessories to liven things up.

Here's the dining room timeline of color:

Green upon move-in

Watermelon was my first repainting.

Now we're at grey. And I love it. Really love how calm the grey is with the white wainscoting.

Now I'm moving to redo the hall bathroom. AGAIN.

Last time, we ended up here:
Now that I'm going grey, I decided I wasn't crazy about all the color in the wainscoting but wasn't ready to go back to white yet. So I'm going white on the walls, and a softer grey (high gloss) on the wainscoting. Am very excited. After I thought of the idea, I search google for images just to confirm my stroke of genius and found this. I'm going a little darker, but you get the idea:
Going back to the dining room (am all over the place in this post), we're overhauling everything in there in addition to the paint. We've sold our trusty Target mission-style chairs that always seemed too small and temporary. Last week, I scored 6 vintage dining chairs at my fave used furniture warehouse for $140. Here's 4 of them. Don't hate. I'm going to whip them in to shape soon! We lucked out and found 3 more very similar chairs while we were there and bought 2 of them as well.

I'd to paint the chairs red and recover (and recushion!!) with a black and white chevron fabric a la this pic: Then I'm thinking 2 of these for either end of the dining table:
So, I've got my hands full. We have really come up with lots of great ideas for renovation and redecoration of the house. Some BIG projects, some small that we can tackle now. It's been kind of amazing. I've come up with all sorts of ideas on my own and then I've randomly bumped into my idea in real life just by chance. Take this photo I stumbled across in the most recent Crate & Barrel catalog

Not only is it totally mid-century-inspired, but see the whole stone wall with fireplace? Yeah, we've been bouncing around the idea of taking our our current fireplace and built-ins and replacing it with a free-standing fireplace or stove and putting in shallower built-in shelving under the windows. Just to free up about a foot or more floor space and give us more feeling of space in general.

Just a few of my crazy ideas and decorating that's been going on a 415. As always, stay tuned. I'll post pics at these projects come to life!

Rug steal

2011-09-26T12:05:00.001-04:00

Why yes, that IS a 100% wool 9x12 rug we found for $199 at Home Goods. Why do you ask?

It's not everyone's bag, but it works perfectly with our new color scheme and the price was beyond right!

Mid-Century Makeover

2011-09-08T19:48:00.001-04:00

Our living room is going mid-century modern. I'm so excited. Couch has been ordered and we got this fab coffee table over the weekend. The plan is laid out. Can't wait until it's complete! Stay tuned!!

Sadly...

2011-08-01T11:48:00.002-04:00

....I may have to retire this blog. I used to have time at work to post entries, but now, working in the land of billing and time keeping, blogging at work really isn't in the cards.

BUT.

Don't cry. I've got a new tumblr account and am going to try that to keep you nosy people up on the happenings in our lives and home.

Check me out here kelleytime.tumblr.com. I think I can manage to post a picture and a quick comment from work more easily than taking 30 mins or more to post an entire entry.

YAY! or YAY?

News Flash: I'm Not Dead

2011-06-15T13:00:00.003-04:00

It's been a totally obscene amount of time since I last posted, but I've got excuses, y'all!

1. I started my new job at super law firm, which equals timekeeping, which equals no more free time at work to blog and the like.

2. I started my new job at super law firm, which equals new routine, which equals tired blogger come 5:00pm.

3. I started my new job at super law firm, which equals....well, it equals mental chaos.

4. STARTED. NEW. JOB.

Are we clear?

I have some home projects on the brain. It's been so long since I've shared any projects in the house, I've been so proud of my husband and his app success! However, I have a 4 day holiday weekend coming up July 4th and said hubby will be out of town with his family (no vacation time for first 90 days of new job = me can't go) and I have some projects up my sleeve. They include paint and new bedding. YOU THOUGHT THE DUVET ISSUE HAD BEEN SETTLED? You're so naive.

I also have the cutest new piece of furniture to show you. The pictures of which are still on the camera. I think I took those 2 weeks ago. See. New Job. No Time. I'll give you a narrative sneak "peak" - it's a side table, top is bean-shaped, has 2 drawers, and the most beautiful shapely legs. Also, it's painted a melon color so close to my dining room color it's silly. Will post pics soon! SWEAR!

Lastly, I can't pass up the chance to brag on the hubs once again. He went for a few weeks there without press, but then out of nowhere, my new BFF, Charlie Sorrel, wrote this article for WIRED!
You've heard of WIRED, right? Such a cool magazine! We love Charlie!

And then Lifehacker, after taking a poll to get the top 5, has this great little write-up and chance to vote for your favorite of the Five Best Mobile Podcast Catchers. Downcast is in the top 5. YAY! You're supposed to be able to vote, but I honestly can not figure out HOW to vote. BOO!

So that's life around here. Work is going well (I've got BUSINESS CARDS!) and I've got so much to learn it makes my head spin. I can't wait until it's a year from now (maybe sooner) and I look back on this time and laugh at how easy all this stuff I view as hard is/was.

And Again!

2011-05-20T14:58:00.001-04:00

Go to 11:55.

Bragging on my Husband

2011-05-13T14:29:00.005-04:00

Of all the days for Blogger to go down (that's what she said), why did it have to be today? This morning, I was chomping at the bit to share some exciting news and Bloggers was MIA!

My preshus, smartie-pants hubby has made me all kinds of proud today!

Check out the video below for a comparison of his iOS app, Downcast (my sole sponsor on the right), versus one of his competitors. To see the full comparison start at 38:36, but if you want to skip to the goods go to 42:46.

Now, for those of you that don't know (probably ALL of you because I hardly know) the man in the video is Leo Laporte and is the mind behind Twit and all its podcasts and stuff that my husband enjoys nerding up on in his spare time. My hubby's app has been available in the app store for several months and he's done pretty well for an app with hardly any "press." He's been selling anywhere from 15-30 apps per day which brings in a handy chunk of extra change each month.

So imagine my surprise when he comes into the bathroom this morning while I was still in the shower (this never happens) and tells me he sold a whopping 110 Downcasts yesterday. I believe I responded, "Shut up. You did not." because we like to exaggerate for no reason sometimes. But lo, he was actually NOT kidding. I kinda freaked, but did so quietly.

He proceeds to tell me that some dood named @psxmac apparently tweeted to Sarah Lane (the lovely young lady who is actually comparing the apps in the video) that she should check out Downcast in addition to the "other" podcast app she was reviewing. Hence, the segment. And Downcast won. We are in love with @psxmac and Sarah Lane.

Tomorrow morning will reveal the number of sales for today, but really, how can it get better than 30 to 110?!?! To put into perspective for those of you who might be unimpressed based on lack of knowledge, from my a little bet less lack of knowledge point of view, seeing my husband's app reviewed on iPad Today was a little like seeing your product on Oprah's Favorite Things list. That's how it feels to me anyway. Hubs might not think it's THAT big of a deal, but I do and ...

I'M SO PROUD!!!!

Older and Pottery-Wiser

2011-05-11T09:47:00.010-04:00

When I was younger, my parents would often take us to the mountains during the summer. I did not like the mountains, I wanted to go to the beach. I thought the mountains were boring.

Oh, that naive little girl.

Now that I'm all grown up and wise, the mountains for me are a relaxing retreat that I don't get to enjoy nearly enough!

Where am I headed with this? Well, during that time as a youngin' the mountains meant my mom was going to drag me to all these stores that seemed to sell nothing but pottery. Boring 'ole home-thrown pottery from North Carolina. Snooooooze fest!

Again, how naive was I?

I've slowly and steadily becoming smitten with pottery. My mom has a collection, but my MIL has a SIZEABLE collection. They both have certain colors they gravitate towards. My mom loves the blues and browns, and my MIL loves the purples, teals, and blues. I'm right there in the middle and I'm slowing trying to grow my own collection.

Pottery is a big thing in North Carolina and it's nice to know I can get some beauties right in my own backyard. However, there's another beauty out there called etsy and sellers from across the globe sell their goodies to those who might not be so lucky to buy them locally.

I've been browsing the last few days and have fallen head over heels for these pieces by Darshan Pottery in Vermont.

Check them out:

The black is striking! I love the twisting of the blues.

I love the shape of this mug.

These are chili bowl/mugs. I want some chili now just so I can eat from these cuties!

Are you all in love yet? You should be. The black pottery is amazing.

But the colors are gorgeous, too!

One of my favorite NC potters is Steve Williams. I have a growing collection of his work in my home. My mom got me hooked when she randomly brought home some of his pieces after she visited Hendersonville, NC for a work trip. He has an adorable "Moon & Stars" pattern that is so lovely I can hardly stand it. I'm had to force myself to only share a few of his pieces with you. I would post them all if I didn't think it would bore my readers to tears.

I own this piece. It's a baking dish, but I have it on display.

I gifted the sugar and creamer set to my mom for Christmas a few years back along with a long, slim tray they sit on. They are precious.

Mom also has a couple of these unique votive holders. They are grand fun.
And the mugs! How cute is their shape! I don't drink coffee or have much use for mugs, but I could collect them in a heartbeat!
This is my hope and dream. I want these canisters like Three wants a Beggin' Strip. BAAAD.
Also this:

I found some other gorgeous jewels that I'd love to bring home with me. Etsy is the bomb, I swear. Here's some more eye-candy from some of my fave etsy shops.

First up JD Wolfe Pottery
Dang mugs! They get me every time!
Ah, but this tumbler I could actually USE!

Shut up, yes they have heart-shaped bowls. In lots of colors. Presh.

This pitcher would blend swimmingly with another I got in Blowing Rock last year. I love the handle. This one is from Suzanne's Pottery Farm.

And lastly, Rising Sky Pottery. They have yellow pottery for which I died.

Shut up, it's a mug. I know. I KNOW.

And this little guy is just gorgeous. He belongs to Hughes Pottery.

Now wipe your chins and get back to work.

The Beautiful Truth: Perseverance

2011-05-11T08:28:00.003-04:00

I've posted a bit of yuck here lately, but today I've got some good news.

Scratch that. GREAT news.

I'm so proud to announce that I've FINALLY landed a position as a REAL LIFE Paralegal!

I've kept it kind of hush hush because it seems each time I tell the world that I've applied for a position or even gotten an interview for a position I have to come back and tell how I didn't get the job or wasn't even considered for the job. Perhaps a little modesty helped this time.

A few weeks back my division of 9 people found out that there was a legislative proposal to retain only 3 positions in our division and eliminate 6. Immediately I thought I was once again going to lose my job. Oddly enough, on that very same day, I received a job posting through my paralegal program alma mater regarding an opening for an entry-level paralegal. Understand, this NEVER happens. I've struggled to find jobs that require anything LESS than 3-5 years of experience since I graduated from the program, and they just don't exist. I jumped on this bad boy immediately.

A very few short days later (we're talking 2 or so), I get a call from the firm's paralegal manager who is based in Atlanta. He and I had a nice phone interview (my first ever) and he told me the next step would be to schedule in-person interviews to the candidates who would move on after the phone interviews. To my great surprise, I got a call from the Raleigh Office Administrator a couple days letter scheduling an interview.

Last Wednesday, I nervously went to my interview but was pleasantly surprised by how relaxed, comfortable, and welcome I felt almost immediately. I met with the Office Admin and the one other paralegal in the office. Both chats went great. The next day, I sent a thank you email like a good interviewee and got a response back asking me to come in to meet with one of the partners. WEE! So, Monday morning I went back in to meet with him and again had a wonderful meeting.

I knew they were checking my references and that's always a good sign, but since I've never worked in the private sector I really had no idea how companies handle their hiring. Maybe they were checking references of others? All kinds of ideas were swimming through my head.

But then. YESTERDAY. I got a call from my good buddy back in Atlanta offering me the position and I accepted right then and there on the phone. He told me I had been his secret first pick and then when the interview team said the same thing, they decided I was perfect and offered me the job. How flattering to hear that and that they "were honored" to have me join their team.

I've been waiting for this for 3 years. I felt like giving up so many times assuming I'd never find a job opportunity at any decent place that was willing to take a beginner. But clearly, this is the Lord's GIANT hand at play here. Perseverance and patience (even though I didn't feel patient at times) has paid off. I can only hope that the experience at the new firm is the cherry on top.

I'm excited, nervous, scared and totally THRILLED to start this journey in my career.

The Ugly Truth about Mother's Day

2011-05-09T13:19:00.005-04:00

I've debated all morning about whether or not to post about Mother's Day 2011. I'm sure my husband will read this and tell me I should take it down before someone runs to my mom telling her to read her daughter's blog. But I decided that this IS MY blog and I'll write what I feel. I'll write what I can't seem to say to anyone other than my husband and God love him, sometimes that's just not enough. Other ears and hearts should be open to hearing what I feel and think, but for the past 10 years, those ears and hearts seem closed and not accessible which has caused me a lot of pain.

All week last week I saw girls replacing their Facebook profile pictures with pics of their dear mothers, or pics of them with their dear mothers and reading wall posts about how great and wonderful their mothers are and how their mothers are their best friends and blah, blah, blah. I'll admit, this grossed me out and made me feel nothing but ickyness toward those people. Clearly, it's not that I think a mother-child relationship is icky, but I know in my heart, it's jealousy.

Many of you know that almost 10 years ago my dad became brain-injured after open-heart surgery at the WORLD HELL-HOLE of a medical center and the same one WHO RUINS FAMILIES' LIVES, Duke University Medical Center. I cringe to even type those letters. Over the course of the past 10 years, I've watched my mom care for my dad, continue to work 40 hour work weeks, travel for work, and still try to be normal to the best of her ability. She's made it, but not unscathed.

My mom is a broken soul caring for a broken shell of a husband if you even still want to call him that. The story of the 10 years in between is too long and detailed to get into here, but has left me feeling parent-less. Not only did I for sure lose my dad, but his shell has taken my mom from me and has destroyed the mother-daughter future we could have had. I have tried to convey that to her, but I never know if the message gets through because before the conversations are over, the focus turns back to how very hard life is on her.

As selfish as it sounds, my feelings feel meaningless because I know my mom can always trump me. I've not felt there was any room for my feelings in 10 years because no matter what I have felt, my mom has felt it times 1,000. So I've just shut the hell up. I've told Seth and no one else. No one else get its.

You ask what I'm doing for my mom for Mother's Day? How was my Mother's Day? Was it a great day? Did you cook? What did you get her?

Truth: It sucked. She asked for nothing, I gave her nothing. The moodiness and grumpiness and passive-aggressive side in us all came out making for an awkward evening held up SOLELY by my caring husband who wanted nothing more than to diffuse the evening.

I'm guilty of the moodiness sometimes, too, but this time I honestly couldn't have cared less. The night before, I knew my mom was driving back from Cullowhee, NC, which was about a 5-6 hour drive. I texted her to make sure she was driving safely. I got 2 blank texts back. I called her thinking something might have been wrong with her phone and she basically yelled at me. Gee. Sorry I was trying to check to make sure you were driving safely. I won't do it again.

So I was bothered by what seemed to me an over-reaction. The "woe is me" vibe follows pretty much everyone in my family like a shadow. You never know what you're going to get when they walk in the door, myself included on occasion.

Mother's Day and certainly Father's Day are only reminders that my family is completely effed-up. That my mother isn't happy and that my father isn't here. That no matter what I do for my mom, it doesn't make her life better. That moods can shift in a matter of seconds bringing the "weather" in the room from sunshine and rainbows to dark clouds and thunder. For no discernible reason.

So, no, we didn't have a good Mother's Day. I just wanted it to end so the interwebs would stop blabbing about it and how great their mother's are. Mine is sad and broken and I miss her.

Excuse Me, This is Fabulous

2011-05-05T15:27:00.005-04:00

Installment 2 of EMTIF brings 3 semi-OK photos taken by my trusty iPhone. See, sometimes you just might come across something fabulous that's NOT online and an image can't be so easily borrowed. I certainly don't haul my camera to work with me everyday either. So my iPhone and its might mega-pixels are my go-to guys when I just can't wait to share the fab.

As I was flipping through my latest Real Simple, I turned page 121 to see this photo staring back at me from page 123.
Aren't they fabulous? Not only is the photo itself gorgeous, but those glasses are just TDF. I think they're probably a bit large for my face, but I love that they are navy and the white detailing is so classic.

These Alexander McQueen beauties will set you back $325 so don't run out to the sto' just yet.

Mulch Appreciated

2011-05-02T09:17:00.019-04:00

After four weekends of bad weather, cold temps, and tornadoes, we finally had a perfect weekend to get some much (or mulch) needed yard work started.

Early Saturday morning, my brother came over with his truck and he and the hubs went to our local mulchery (I think I made that word up) and loaded up with 2 cubic yards of lovely brown mulch.
It was a little more than $50 for a loaded truck-bed full and that seemed like a good deal. The last time we mulched we were in our previous house and we went the way of "buying bags and bags from Lowe's" and hated it. It was much better this time and we had the perfect tools to make the job feel like less of a struggle. More on that in a minute.

The hardest part of the day was for the boys - unloading the truck. I have no pictures of this event because I was trying to be helpful, but see if you can visualize. We laid out a large blue tarp on our driveway and the boys proceeded to shovel all the mulch from truck to tarp. It took about 15 minutes or so. I hopped into the truck bed with my trusty yellow broom and swept out what was left after the shoveling. It was fun.

After the great unload, I made a run to Lowe's to get some gloves, a pitchfork and a bow rake.

These are the 2 tools you need to make your mulching experience enjoyable and easy! We decided that using a pitchfork instead of a shovel was like using a spoon rather than a fork to eat yogurt. The pitchfork goes right into the mulch and picks up tons whereas using that shovel only makes it harder on you and you wear yourself out quickly.

Additionally, the rake saved my back. Seth would pitch the mulch into the wheelbarrow, then bring it to me and dump it, and I used the rake to spread it out. SO MU(L)CH easier. We agreed that when you have the right tools for any job, it makes a world of difference. It only took us a couple of hours to put mulch out in the front and down the side of the driveway.

We did have some major weeding to do before we put down the mulch. We had long neglected our landscaping since we uprooted our crape myrtles last summer.

Here's what we started with:

Here's the driveway about half-way through.

And here we are after:

Please ignore our clumpy, spotty grass. We have two types of grass in our yard and will eventually till it all up and start fresh, but I don't think that's in the cards for this year.

There was barely enough mulch to cover the area around our butterfly bush in the backyard, but we managed to spread it thin enough to at least make it look nice:

We planted this guy last fall and were semi-afraid we'd murdered it, but he came back nice and purty a month or so ago and I'm just waiting for his lovely purple cones to blossom! We're going to get more mulch to thicken his bed up and also to spread along the entire right side of our house. (Side note, I'd seriously never even been on the right side of our house until Saturday. Weird, right?) We thought 2 cubic yards would be a ton, but I think we could've used one or two more!

Another long overdue (but not really our problem) project we tackled was thinning out the mess around the bottom of a crape myrtle tree that's technically on our neighbor's property but blocks our view of the street when pulling out of our driveway. Our neighbor's house is actually some sort of a convalescent home and the folks living there don't do any yard work. They have someone that comes by on occasion to cut the grass, but that's about it. The builder/seller of our home told us they wouldn't mind us doing some pruning and in fact they sort of welcomed it.

Again, here's what we started with:

This last shot is me standing in the driveway shooting parallel to the street. All the crud at the bottom totally blocked our view when pulling out into the street. Luckily, we live on a quiet street and it's usually not a problem, but I always worried about people walking and dogs - not as easy to see behind this junk as a car!

We grabbed all the tools we had. Some big ole limb cutters, the FatMax saw, the weed eater and a rake and had at it.

(Pardon my blue picture, I didn't set the white balance and all my pictures came out blue.
This one I forgot to edit. Get over it.)

Here's the after:
Again, this last shot is me standing at the same point parallel to the street as I referenced above. Kind of a big difference, don't you think?

We found all kinds of craziness while cleaning up this area. It looks like the tree has put off a bunch of shoots and most of what we cut away were crape myrtle shoots that were just a pain and not pretty. We even found some lovely monkey grass in there which I insisted we keep. There was even a strawberry in the mix!
I wanted to save the strawberry, but I think the weed eater got him. I'm sure it made for a lovely snack for one of the birds that was hopping all through the grass on Saturday!

Last but not least, we sawed down this dead tree on our neighbor's property. It's clearly dead so we figured it wasn't ours, but who would want a dead tree in their yard?

He smelled good after we cut him, though!

There was one area we didn't get to that's our next small project.

This area is right at the end of our fence and right on the edge of the driveway and we think is technically ours. We wanted to mulch around it but ran out before we could get to it. The main tree in that clump is a pecan tree and it litters its goods all over our driveway in the fall. There's also some lovely irises there and although you can't really see it, they have some pretty purple flowers on them right now. We really need to rake that area out and give it some fresh mulch.

Also on our to-do list for the yard:

Mulch the right side of the house (I also want to plant lots of hostas down that side, too.
Have stump grinders come in and rid us of the stump left over from last year's great tree murder.
Plant plants! We've done nothing but take out. It's time to put in!

My new BFFs

2011-04-28T10:18:00.002-04:00

I'm on a roll. The younsters are my new BFFs. I'm unstoppable. I just can't help but share.
But seriously, I commented on the most amazing birth story post I've ever read. Three weeks shy of their little one's first birthday, Sherry shared the story. I couldn't believe they'd kept it under wraps for so long. I think the jaws of their entire audience dropped yesterday. Lucky folks, I tell ya. Go read it, but take some tissues. I don't have kids and it gave me chills.

Clara's Birth Story over at YoungHouseLove.

Rolla Coastaaa....of Jobs

2011-04-26T15:52:00.002-04:00

Ok folks, I suppose I owe you an update on the job situation.

First, last week, "they" (whoever that is) revealed to our division which three people/positions would be retained by the budget proposal. Tuesday morning, I notice my boss was inviting a few people to meet with her in the conference room around 10:30. At the time, I was busy and I didn't really notice who all she had invited. I assumed she would be taking us in one by one all day to break the news that we'd no longer have our jobs soon.

She asked me to cover reception while they were in the meeting. It may seem odd that I couldn't tell that I was all alone, but our suite is made up of cubes and some times I can go almost a whole day without laying eyes on my co-workers even though they are 2 feet away from me. So I was blissfully clueless and just figured my time would come.

After the morning meeting, I went back to my co-worker and said, "What's the meeting about? Is this where she tells us we're all getting the ax?" And she replied, "No, it's when she tells us that the positions that were saved were hers (the directors), the investigator's and MINE."

WHAAAAAAAAAA?

I was kind of sickened. ME? I have been an examiner the least amount of time compared to my four other counterparts. I feel BAD. Really bad, and I still do. Me, who has been doing this since October? Just 6 little 'ole months? The other 4 have been here for several years, some have been instrumental in reorganizing the work flow up in this piece!

When it was my turn for a meeting, it was me and the other two retainees. Aside from being outright dissed for "not having seniority over the others and yet SHE gets to stay???", I realized my selection had nothing to do with ME. It was all about the numbers. I get paid the least out of all my counterparts. The receptionist gets the very least, but they don't need one of those when they move our division. So that's the trade-off I guess? Been there the least amount of time? Get paid less?

It's simple. I got saved because I'm cheap.

For now, this is all a big 'ole proposal. Nothing is set in stone until the final budget bill is signed into law. But still, we all wonder who is going to change things so drastically before July for our division? I think we all (including me) don't see that happening, but you never can tell.

On the flipside, I have an interview with a law firm next Wednesday. I'm excited about it, but not expecting anything. A rare entry-level paralegal position was advertised and I jumped on it. I got the posting the day we found out about our division being slashed. Entry-level paralegal positions don't come around often because firms and lawyers don't have time to train you. I'm hoping for the best, but trying not to get my hopes up. Of course, I will break the news here as soon I know anything.

I Heart YHL & I'm Famous

2011-04-19T15:45:00.002-04:00

Seriously, this just made my day. I heart YoungHouseLove!

Excuse Me, This is Fabulous

2011-04-19T09:39:00.005-04:00

In an attempt to brighten my currently dark and depressed soul, I've made an executive decision to start a new post them called, "Excuse Me, This is Fabulous." Whenever you see this post title, be prepared for greatness.

I made this executive decision while browsing etsy for an iPad cover or sleeve and came across this made by EightSeasons:

It's leather and $78 and I can't afford it, but it's so adorable and fabulous I practically said so out loud when I saw it.

I browsed the rest of EightSeason's store and found this. And then I died.

It's $310. Ouch, but fabuous.

Here We Go Again

2011-04-15T08:28:00.003-04:00

While I have a few minutes before the morning mail hits my desk, I have some news to share. It's not the good kind of news, unfortunately, it's the bad kind of news.

Tuesday evening as we were watching our DVR'd shows, Seth was browsing on his iPhone per usual. I never know what he's looking at on there and he does it for long periods of time. I used to ask what he was looking at, now I don't ask as often. But suddenly he piped up and shared with me what he was looking at with the preface of, "I don't know if this is good or bad for you but..." and then proceeds to tell me he's looking at a committee document that proposes transferring three positions from my current division to another state agency and eliminating six positions from my current division. And then there was silence.

Do the math. 3+6 = 9. We actually have 8 employees in our division. The 9th person was actually promoted shortly after I started this job and while he still has a hand in our business, he's not full time with our division so he probably won't be affected by this change. However, again, going back to the math, it seems our division has been proposed to be completely demolished.

How did I get here? How did I get in the position of ANOTHER one of my jobs being eliminated? How can this be happening? All the while, my husband has been worrying about losing HIS job because of rumors of being outsourced?

For a while there, it seemed I was actually the safe one. Then overnight it's almost the opposite without question. I'm staring down the barrel of a gun whose sole purpose is to render me unemployed. Again? Maybe if I hadn't taken a job working with Satan for a supervisor the first time around, I wouldn't know what it was like to be let go from a job. But I know. I have only been re-employed for 14 months. I'm not ready to go through that ordeal again. I'm not ready for my husband to possibly lose his job.

It's kind of hurtful because when you have to tell people you lost your job, it's hard not to assume they are wondering what you did to get let go. In both situations, it hasn't been my fault. My first "letting go" was thanks to a snake of a supervisor who (in hindsight) was so jealous and threatened by me, she did all she could to mess with my life and my career. This time, it's purely the work of someone who doesn't even know us or know what this division does or what kind of people we have. This was done by someone outside of the entire department even. It sucks. People calling the shots about your life and work without a clue. Without a care. They just see dollars and they know they have to lessen the amount of them that goes out.

Needless to say we're kinda scared. We're definitely depressed. And we're for sure on an emotional roller coaster. One that's stopped at the top of the tallest, steepest hill, and all we can do is stare down the hill and wonder when the car is going to drop and we're going to plummet to the bottom.

My Favorite IKEA Deals

2011-04-08T14:06:00.013-04:00

I've got IKEA on the brain today. I've got a secret reason why, but I'm going to hold off telling you for now because so far my luck with sharing has gotten me nowhere but unhappyville since nothing has worked out yet! I'll tell you this little nugget - it has to do with our master bedroom. (shocker)

IKEA is fantastic. They definitely have some things that are too cheapy looking and feeling that I probably wouldn't buy, but they have a lot of nice, solid wood (maybe it's not mahogany, but it's solid wood) pieces that are sturdy, heavy, and classic. I have so enjoyed putting filler pieces from IKEA in my home. It's a nice feeling to buy needed pieces at SUCH reasonable and affordable prices.

To that end, I wanted to share some of my most favorite IKEA deals that keep me going back for more. I will also give you a clue that some of the items I am getting ready to show may or may not be part of my master bedroom excitement. You'll just have to wait and see on that one.

Again I should say, IKEA does not pay me to say this stuff, in fact, they've never heard of me. Although, IKEA in Charlotte is following me on Twitter. Anyway, this is unsolicited reviewing. I just love IKEA that much. MUWAH!

1. The Ringum Rug:This rug is a steal at $9.99 and it's REAL WOOL. They are the greatest and I think I own 8 of them (4 green, 2 red, 2 violet). They are an adorable circle - not too large, not too small, and not your average throw rug. I use them in my bathrooms and have used them at the end of a bed to create a design on the floor. The circle shape does wonders for adding interest to any room.

2. Duvet Sets:
This baby retails for $49 in a king-size and it comes with the duvet and 2 shams. (!!!) We actually own the one in the photo, although the photo does the bedding ABSOLUTELY no favors. It's really much cuter than this pic would lead you to believe. But believe ME. It's cute and it's soft and it's nice. We bought one when we had a queen bed in our MBR and we actually bought a second one when we upgraded to a king. Scroll down to see the real life cuteness.

Over the years, I've made a hobby out of collecting duvet sets from IKEA, but I'm quite selective about it. I own 4 duvet sets from IKEA. You have to be careful depending on how picky you are. Some of them are flimsier than others and lack features like a bottom closure. For me, that's kind of important. It's like not buttoning your fly - who does that on purpose?
I've passed on a few of their duvets for that reason - even if the pattern was super cute and begging to come home with me.

You really can't beat the price, though. If you're buying a F/Q you can get a 3 piece set for $20 on certain sets. It's awesome for bedding junkies like me.

3. Pillow Covers
The blue pillow cover in the foreground will set you back a whopping $4. And it's double-sided, that's 2 pillow covers for the price of one! My mom bought me my first set of pillow covers from IKEA (not to mention my first duvet from IKEA, too). She bought it in a rare moment of shopping out of town without me and she actually nailed my style.

The covers are generally fabulous and are made from a nice thick canvas-like cotton with zip closures. Sure, they have lesser covers, but these $4 babies are like Diet Mountain Dew. I can't pass them up. They also have other covers in a variety of price ranges including or without pillow covers can certainly change the price around, too. But they are all great and we own about 10 pillows and covers from IKEA. Love them all. They even have nice down pillow inserts. Watch those feathers, though!

4. Curtain Panels (sold in pairs)
$39.99 for the pair. Yes, FOR TWO AT A TIME.

IKEA has lots of curtains to chose from and most of them come in pairs. Sometimes you can get them for way less than $39.99, but again, I often opt for the mid-range priced item rather than the dirt cheap just for a little more substance.

I have one set of sheers that are currently hanging in my guest bedroom. They will be moved elsewhere to make way for my fab curtain idea. Scroll down for pics of the sheers in use at our last house (SIDE NOTE: I'm tired of referring to pictures from our last house. I'm in love with our CURRENT house and am going to make it a point to take all new pictures of our stuff in the NEW house. Sheesh.)

You can get curtain panels for a little as $4.99 a pair from IKEA. Just depends on your space and your needs. These cuties below will soon be coming home with me for just $12.99 for the pair. Gotta love it. And they all come with iron-on hemming tape so they are ready for your adjustments right out of the package. We'll soon be adding 6 IKEA panels to rooms in our house. As soon as I can get myself to an IKEA. No, they're not lined blackout panels made of dupioni silk, but sometimes you don't need all that jazz. Sometimes breezy cotton panels are just the thing you need.
Here's how I integrate IKEA looks at home. Our LAST home. There's much more IKEA in our new home and again, I'm on a mission to share that with you soon!
Our former master bedroom. IKEA plays nicely with our Restoration Hardware furniture, Pottery Barn lamps, and Target throw pillows.

Our former guest bedroom. IKEA plays nicely with my grandmother's antique bed (painted gloss black by moi), antique chenille bedspread (white), cheap (but soft) purple sheets from Target, and giant purple bolster and zebra throw pillows also from Target.

Our former loft. I picked up this large Ringum rug and have used it in a variety of locations. Here she is flirting with my antique bench.

This room is IKEA central. We had a bonus room in our last house and when our couch wouldn't fit through the door, we had to buy all new furniture. We went a little nuts. But it was an inexpensive way to fill a HUGE room and I miss that Karlstad sectional. Luckily, we sold it to my BIL so we could go visit if I REALLY wanted to.

Does anyone else love IKEA as much as I?

It seems that Three does. Homegirl knows how to work the duvets, pillows, sofa and blankets!
My and my snuggle bunny on the Karlstad with the warm IKEA blankie. You can also see another IKEA piece that matches the coffee table in the picture above. The TV console is one of my favorite pieces. Long and low - it's so wonderful.

My first duvet from IKEA. I loved it! I snapped this precious picture one morning. Three had been home just a few days after spending 3 in the doggie hospital recovering from an Addisonian episode so bad we almost lost her. Clearly, with my poor sheet/duvet pairing, I wasn't thinking about coordination during that time.

Pillow and sofa both IKEA. Dog by Scottish ancestry.

Monogramming Revealed

2011-04-06T08:14:00.005-04:00

Remember in this post how I teased you with a unique monogramming idea for the towels I ordered from Pottery Barn Kids? Well, they have arrived and I couldn't be more pleased.

This photo is pretty true to color (towel-wise anyway, my walls certainly do not glow so bright in person).

This photo makes the towels look purple. They are not. I took these pics with my iPhone last night and the color is off in this one.

The towels are so cute! They are this great punch of royal blue and I love it.

We just can't ever move since our house number is on the towels. That or only buy homes with a 415 address.

Duvet Disappointment

2011-04-04T10:07:00.002-04:00

Just a quick note...

I got my artichokes duvet on Friday and it's a no-go. Instead of being the nice apple green I thought it was going to be (based on the online photos), it's actually more like a neon green. I also thought it had a little bit of a yellowish outline, but it's just a white background with the neon artichokes. I didn't even take them out of the packages. Basically, I opened the box, saw the color and sealed the puppy back up.

Oh well.

Settling Into My Style

2011-03-31T14:56:00.010-04:00

Recently, while reading a post at Young House Love, I had an epiphany.

My girl Sherry writes:

Even if it means doing things that might not have mass appeal – as long as something speaks strongly to us, we’re in. There’s actually freedom in letting go of the notion that your house should please everyone who walks in the door. It allows you be more true to yourself and your place starts to feel more special.

As I sat in my cubicle at work (or "cuticle" as one of my co-workers calls them) a smile of contentment came across my face and suddenly I mentally let go of all I was unconsciously clinging to when trying to make decorating decisions for my house.

The truth is, and I don't mean this as harshly as it will read, but...

I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU THINK OF MY HOME DECOR.

Seriously, if you think about it, why should you care what others think of YOUR home? Sure, we all love for folks to gush over our creative ideas and fun designs, but usually the best homes come from folks who step outside the norm and create a place of warmth and style by just being themselves.

When I read Sherry's simple, yet kinda obvious thoughts, I decided right on the spot to quit caring what someone else might say or think when they visit my home. Everyone has different styles but that doesn't make one right or wrong or better or worse. It makes us DIFFERENT and UNIQUE and essentially MORE INTERESTING.

Since pretty much 100% of our friends live in other towns and states, I don't usually have anyone with which to share my decorating fun so the sharing generally trickles over to my mom. She is "Traditional Trish" with a capital T when it comes to home decor! She and I have completely different styles when it comes to decorating. She's all oriental rugs, solid mahogany furniture, beige/blue/cream color schemes, and totally a slave to the "you should haves" in your home (i.e. a formal living room AND a formal dining room AND a casual family room). I, on the other hand, am a bit more adventurous and tend towards the modern when it comes to furniture, accessories, and color. I can just as easily fall madly in love with the modern decor at IKEA as I could a beat up and creaky old piece of furniture with some history. I try to combine these things in my home as much as possible - like when the opportunity strikes and the right piece at the right price falls into my lap.

But while sharing with mom should be safe and fun, for me I end up disappointed a lot. I want my mom to enjoy my home as much as I do - to see if for what it is and appreciate the difference between us. I can appreciate her style even though I wouldn't necessarily replicate it in my own home. But I feel like she doesn't always appreciate mine. It kinda makes me sad. I can hear the doubt in her voice when I describe my latest paint project, or the new throw pillows I got, or the color scheme for the next room. It's a doubting sound that can only come from someone who clearly doesn't have the same style as me. I get that, I just with the doubt wasn't there. It makes me feel like my personal home style is wrong - and it's NOT!!! It's just different!

After my YHL epiphany though, I'm having so much more fun finding and shopping for things online and in discount stores or wherever I might be now that I "don't care." I feel incredibly free!

For instance, here are a smattering of things I found at Home Goods the other night that wouldn't be caught dead in my mom's house, but I found charming and interesting and wanted to bring them all home with me. Unfortunately, they were a bit too rich for my wallet and so they stayed behind at HG.

I simply love these fun chairs. I can totally see them as head chairs at a dining table as fun punctuation marks to an otherwise simple table. They've been in the store for a while now and at $120 a piece, I'm not quite ready to buy, but I'm thinking about it!

Then there's this fun little guy. They had lots of these. Some in white, some in black, some in red. The white was by far my favorite and I love that they are sitting on Lucite stands. They would be amazing bookends. For now, they still reside in the store, but I might go back and grab a pair!

Lastly, they had 3 of these gorgeous and fun carved wooden trees. This was by far the best one, but again, at $50 a piece it wasn't the right time or in the budget to bring one of these bad boys home. I was kind of smitten with them, though. Totally beautiful as mantel pieces. I can see one at each end of my mantel. These trees were so unique. They were about an inch thick and very sturdy. I just loved 'em!

The things that "speak strongly" to me are usually bright and colorful with personality. I'm not going to deny myself any more! WOO! While there are certainly parts of my house that I have decorated more traditionally, I always find that there's a piece that sneaks in that's more fun and loud.

Take our living room rug for instance:

We don't own those sofas anymore, but I love the mix of the modern sofas and rug with the classic mission-style coffee table and the classic bungalow physical features in this room. I swear that rug was made for our house.

Hopefully, I've made some sense here. I haven't been having all the fun decorating our amazing house as I wanted to when we first moved in. After realizing that caring so much about others opinions of my house were actually holding me back, I've dropped all that and am moving forward for ME. I hope that I can find happiness in the decorating journey ahead!

Please Don't Laugh & Ideas

2011-03-29T14:57:00.013-04:00

So. Duvets. Again. I know, I'm completely addicted and obsessed. But a girl must be satisfied so here goes.

I put my lovely new West Elm Sketch duvet on our new bed a while back as a final solution to the mega Duvet Drama of 2011. I had all kinds of plans which involved keeping the red accent wall around the windows, painting the rest of the room the fabulous grey-blue that I've used in my kitchen, and using the old queen sketch duvet to fashion no-sew curtains. But all the motivation and excitement died and stagnated and the current state of our MBR has me feeling bleh.

One wall has 3 colors on it. Yes, THREE. One being the original color, 2 being the first new color, and the 3rd being a large sample spot of the grey-blue. However, the first new color is not painted all the way to the ceiling. We have 10 foot ceilings in our MBR and even on my tallest ladder, wearing clogs, and standing on a stack of books, I couldn't quite reach the top to paint the trim line (at least not neatly). So I just stopped and figured I'd get to it later when I had a better ladder solution. It hasn't happened yet.

I have 3 large and sloppy sample spots of the grey-blue. Two are over top of the unfinished first new paint job. One is in the corner over by the window so I could see it next to the red accent wall. All of the samples were placed based on different light and shadow areas in the room so I could get a good idea of how it would look in any light situation, day or night.

But again, because I know I can't reach the ceiling, I'm very unmotivated to start painting the room.

Until I got the duvet itch.

I decided it was sort of over the red accent wall. It's kind of dark and I think the lighting in our room isn't doing it any favors. (Thanks fan whose 4 lights only point straight down in one giant beam of light.) I have laid on my bed many a night looking around trying to figure out what it is I want to see when I'm in my bedroom. What is it I want to see when I come upstairs and round the corner of the staircase and see my bedroom in the distance.

I want cheer. I want happy. I want spunk and personality. And so I went on the hunt for yet another duvet. An unexpected, but tasteful duvet. A vibrant duvet with "Kelley" written all over it. And then I found this at Garnet Hill:

SHUT. UP. Yes, those are artichokes! And I'm dying over them!

I couldn't deny their whimsical charm and punchy fresh color!

Here's the greatest part. When I first found this duvet on GH, the king was $118 and each standard sham was $30. Then, yesterday as I went back to look at it and admire it, it was ON SALE! It was the "sale of the day" and the duvet was marked down to $88 and each sham was $22 each! SCORE. I quickly snatched them up!

It didn't really dawn on me what "sale of the day" meant until I went back again this morning to get the screen captures of the bedding and saw that they were back up to their original prices of $118 and $30. How freaking lucky was I to visit the page the ONE day they were on sale. I totally patted myself on the back, yo.

So part 2. I was flipping through some pics of our last house on my Mobile Me page and I came across these photos I took for the listing when we were trying to sell the house:

DOOD. And BINGO.

That's the color I want to paint our new room. It's bright, it's neutral, and it's actually a color rather than being plain ole beige. Beige works for me sometimes, but not this beige. It's a builder stock beige, it's flat paint and it feels like a chalkboard (nevermind all the dings and nicks and scratches it holds).

The color in the photos above came about when I decided to repaint our room from this...
...in the hopes that the lovely salmon color I selected would not scare off any potential buyers. By the time I got done repainting, I was in love. The room was bright and fresh and that's EXACTLY what I want for our current bedroom.

I think the yellow-ish walls paired with the artichoke duvet and some fun pillows like these beauties I found on Etsy (mostly from TheCottageCupboard).

The Cottage Cupboard

The Cottage Cupboard

The Cottage Cupboard

DecoFamara

And some plain jane texture from Crate & Barrel.

So what do we think? Are we loving this? I am! I am loving the blues and bright blues right now! The Cottage Cupboard is my BFF as well. She makes curtains, too. Wonder if she'll make them to coordinate with all her other fabulous goods? Guess I have to buy something from her first.

But on the blue and greens note, today I bought some towels for my newly painted hall bath. I got them from Pottery Barn Kids because they were cheaper and came in fun colors. Right now the bathroom is all green with the yellow toile shower curtain. I purchased these with a surprise monogram detail on the bath towels that I will reveal when they arrive.

I got this color for the larger bath towels:

(and no, the monogram I selected will not look like it came straight out of an elementary school).

And I got this color for the hand towels
(which could not be monogrammed. Weird?)

I hope you all are currently dying while reading this because I'm so excited about my fresh and colorful house! I am loving my plans. The blues, yellows, and greens have really captured my soul during the year we've been in this house. The bungalow just screams for some whimsy and our fabulous green tiles around the fireplace and in the kitchen really lend themselves to some fun decorating decisions.

As always, stay tuned for lots of "after" pictures!

A Citrus Bathroom

2011-03-28T08:34:00.014-04:00

I've had an annoyingly disgusting cold since last Friday, March 18 and I was at home three days last week. UGH. I'm still not much better, but at least am functioning and up off the couch/bed.

Over the weekend, I actually took some pictures of our hall bathroom. I've been slaving over this bad boy for a week! I completely repainted EVERYTHING in there. The walls, the wainscoting, and all the trim. It's been a lot of work (and I still have one small area of wainscoting to tape and finish), but it's been worth it. The bathroom feels so much cleaner just to have a slightly less white trim color that's shiny and clean. It makes it look brand new.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I started painting this bathroom using 2 colors of paint that were left over from painting the guest bedroom in our previous house. Both of these colors were flat paint and after I painted the first coats in the bathroom I realized I really need something with more sheen so I bought a quart each of 2 similar paint colors (they didn't have the colors I used previously) and finished the job.

Before I reveal, let's just recap. Here's what our bathroom looked like the day of the inspection. Cute, but not my personal taste in paint color.

And now for the reveal! I messed with the white balance on my camera for a bit until I captured the room in as true-to-life colors as I could get. Hopefully, it reads well on this blog post.

Wall color: New Avocado (Valspar, semi-gloss).
Wainscoting color: Crushed Cumin (Valspar, semi-gloss).
Trim color: Homestead Resort Jefferson White (Valspar, semi-gloss).
Shower curtain: Pottery Barn.
Circle rugs: IKEA.

I actually mixed the quart of New Avocado with what was left of the original flat paint color. It helped cut down on some of the shininess and it made the paint supply greater. I went with semi-gloss paint since this is a bathroom and I didn't want steam streaks on the walls.

HERE SHE IS!

I still need to dress the room. I need curtains and towels and I want to relocate the towel bar and towel hooks and to hang pictures. I also want to liven up the shower curtain. Monogram? Grosgrain ribbon border?

And, don't be fooled by the cleanliness. This is what's to the right of the shot...

It's Been 11 Years...

2011-03-14T11:42:00.007-04:00

....But we still manage to get together and yuck it up like we did in college!

Well, maybe it's not QUITE the same (or crass, curse word-laden, or sassy), but it's fun nonetheless and it's nice to involve our husbands, kids and dogs.

Saturday, Seth, Three and I drove to Dobson to Merry Alice and Brad's lovely house for a Salem girls get-together. This was the first gathering that would include all the kids. I think the last time we gathered with kids, everyone was just on their first off spring. Now, the majority have 3 each!

There was a total of 16 adults, 15 kids, 3 babies in utero, and one dog at the occasion. Thankfully, Merry Alice had a spacious home both inside and out!

Everyone brought food and a few of us plopped right down at the table and proceeded to eat our way through some catch-up conversation. The food is always delicious at our get-togethers and this time did not disappoint. YUM!

It was so good to see everyone. It amazes me that there are so many kids (I haven't contributed a single one!) just 11 years after we graduated. There are more kids than there are years between graduation and the present. The ladies have been busy! I can't believe how big and grown some of them are. All are precious and gorgeous just like their mommas!

Here are some pics from the day.

Some of the yummy food.

Katherine's ~~evil~~ delicious corn dip.

Ruffle pins for all the girls! Thanks Katherine!

My fur baby.

Three holds down the couch (against her will).

Westie exploring the play grounds.

Lisa and her littlest little one, Elizabeth Bennett.

Laura looking adorably preggo.

Here we are trying to convince children and dogs that they WANT THEIR PICTURE TAKEN.

John Barrett begging, "LET'S GO, MOMMA!"

Gena, also adorably preggo, peeking around Dave .

Miss Bennett

Bell showing off her tooth!

Bell taking her first slide.

This is the best I could manage to post of the group shot. I am seriously fat and gross.

Toile is TDF

2011-03-14T11:22:00.005-04:00

Over the weekend, several projects on my to-do list got finished and/or started and as horrid as the photos below are, I'm excited to share these changes with you.

FINALLY bought something with my Pottery Barn gift card from Christmas that arrived and I didn't hate! As we've made changes to our living room during the past few months, I've ended up with colors I am just loving - and that surprised me! The green, yellow, and blue sound like a toddlers, room, but the hues of these colors have won my heart. They are more "harvesty" and not at all primary.

When I finally got another merchandise credit card from returning the last duvet from PB I ordered, I was glad I had waited so long because I had the perfect idea for the next PB purchase.

Here they are! Yellow toile curtains. Linen, blackout liner, perrrrfect.

The photo was taken TOWARD super-bright daylight and a window using my iPhone so sorry for the poor quality. I have taken more with my big-girl camera at night and those will be coming soon.

We had to move the sofa to the other side of the room to hang the drapes and with the move, we decided we liked the new arrangement and we're going to keep it for a bit. I didn't really want to cover up those gorgeous drapes with a big ole couch anyway!

Next up, the hall bathroom which is withing eye-shot of the living room. I ordered the matching yellow toile shower curtain to pull that great fabric to another room for a little repeat design. When I hung it, there was a tan & red rug in there at the sink. It looked none-to-good (could I use anymore hyphens today?) so as a temporary fix, I tossed in 2 spring green circle rugs I have from IKEA (shocked?), and I feel in LOVE with the yellow and green combo!

Funny how things work out. I had some leftover paints from painting a secondary bedroom at our previous house in our garage. You might remember this picture.
I pulled them out to do a couple of test spots and it was a perfect match. Ooooo, free paint project! you can see the green circle rugs in the pic, too. Soooo, now all of a sudden, my hall bathroom is well on its way to awesomeness! I love it's cuteness so much, but unfortunately, this is all I have to show you for now.
Again, kinda bad photo because I took it right next to and toward the light streaming in from the window. Just know that the darker color on the bottom of the first picture is above the chair rail in the bathroom, and the lighter color on the top of the first picture is painted between the slats of the wainscoting in the bathroom. It's SO GREAT. I can't even tell you, but I will show you just as soon as I'm done and can take pics.