Big News

So, I daily go onto sites still and look at all the things that I love. I am inspired by these great women. But its hard to write and get no feedback.  I think I'll start writting now, and just see what happens..we all want followers and comments right????

SO I come to you all with news. A happy home and a happy marriage and all the ducks were in line.  We ended up deciding that we were "ready" to have a baby, and ready to begin the process of "trying".  Now I'm sure there are many of you who struggled with getting pregnant, or know someone who has.. I hear horror stories all the time about IVF, and secondary infertility, but this was just not our case.  We literally decided we were going to "try" in March, and I took the test on April 2nd and I was preggo with an eggo.  Well I'll be damned...we were surprised.  Anyway we couldnt be more excited, we are due Dec 12th, and I am 15 weeks pregnant, safely in my second trimester. I'm like in the I kinda just look fat rather than pregnant stage..not so hot. 

Things that I love about being pregnant-giving up the thong.  I bought all new underwear (granny panties) and they are fabulousssss! I love eating and just thinking about my future baby.

Things I dont like...feeling sick all the time, being the most tired I've ever been in my life, and growing out of my clothes.

We are not sure if we are going to have a boy or girl, but we are looking for a name thats unique, but easily pronouncable.  Example...

Monroe-its a town near me...so I'd never use this name. But its different, uncommon,and very importantly no one would be confused on how to say it. 

So thats what I'm looking for different, cool, uncommon but easily  pronounced. 
If anyone has any suggestions...I'm game.

At the home front...everything is going great.  The nursery needs to get finished, or maybe more appropriately actually started.  When I first got pregnant I started doing picture frame molding, and then a week went by and I go to bed now around 7pm, yea i'm a little tired.  I'm in the process of trying to make a makeshift slipcover for one of my couches.  My living room is very beachy, nautical, airy, I'm planning on changing it for the seasons, and I"m pretty excited about that. 

Anyway thats it for today.

What do I want my life to be about?

So today I got to thinking...what do I want my life to be about?

My husband, my puppys pepperoni and macaroni, my family, my friends, and crafting.  "crafting" as my hubs calls it, is anything and everything under the sun that I love.  It involves fabric, glue guns, stencils, garage sale shoping, thrifting, all my ideas, paint etc etc.  But in all honesty it is my hobby, maybe my only one and only hobby, and yet it brings me so much joy, I am not looking for anything else. 

When I look at my life now...I think am I living my life the way I'd like to live it.

I unlike a lot of women on this site do not have children, and I do have a job(which I get paid for), because I know all of you out their have full time jobs, but they are un-paid and most times with little thanks.  However, I started to think about my life and the hours I have to live said life

I work 8 hours a day with a 1 hour break = 9 hours of work
I like to sleep for 8 hours aday, unlike most ppl I am like a zombie without rest, although most nights I do not get enough. = 8 hours of rest
I spend an hour getting dressed and driving to work, and 30 minutes for the commute home = 1.5 hours
(however once I move we are looking at an hour each way, plus wake up and get ready time

so for driving and dressing time- I'll say 3 hours dress/drive

That leaves me with 20 hours used...only 4 hours in the day

4 measly little hours for My husband, my puppys pepperoni and macaroni, my family, my friends, and crafting.

Its not enough
We really want to have kids, but money is tight, so its really not the right time. Which means, for awhile I just need to deal...

What I've realized about this is time is precious.  Why am I watching "for the love of rayJ", "hoarders", "king of queens"??? Are they good shows? Well they bring entertainment to me, but will I look back at my life and say I wish I watched more RayJ...?? I think friggen NOT!

So... What I've decided to do to fix this problem at least a little bit...
1. I have an iphone...on my break I will now be using my time to eat of course and also search the blogs for everything my little heart desires...I'll read, laugh, comment, and probably write down ideas (which I need to start doing)
2. 30minutes-1 hour of tv is really enough...I just watch because its all mindless, and helps me relax, but isnt there something I'd really be rather doing with my time?
3. Blogging, when I get home I can either continue searching the internet or write a blog myself, but only for 30 minutes.  I do feel like writting everything down helps me relax, so I feel like its theraputic and something I enjoy, so I want to focus my attention and time on what I really love rather than searching everyones space, and reading archives, yes I actually do that.  I love reading everyones past posts.
4. Do more crafts...rather than reading peoples blogs, and then re-creating.  I want to be the first to come up with an idea that I'm really proud of..do it, have someone out there love it, and they re-create it.
5. Spend more time doing things that will make memories, rather than sitting and zoning out on tv

Done..I feel totally satisfied now.

Heres to a healthier and more enjoyable life filled with memories and laughs

xoxo Jen

Birds and Doors...I'm totally OBSESSED!

Today is my day off, so I spent it going to my favorite places. I went to TJ Max...left with nothing.  Marshalls, I liked 2 things, but decided they were just too expensive.  Then I went to home goods and christmas tree shops.

**Macaroni just loves lying on pillows..I did not stage my puppy in this pic**

I bought the pillows in the back for my living room on Friday, I cant sew and for 19.99, and I love the fabric, it was sold.  Then I fell in love with these pillows in the front today for 19.99...I'm a sucker.  They are all for my living room and I just absolutely LOVE the fabric so its well worth it!

All from Home Goods

I love this...and I know it will look great on top of my cabinets in my kitchen

I dont usually buy something for a particular area, but I usually start imagining all the places it would look great...do you do that too?

This is so cute, bird bath covered in moss...much cuter in real life

And again I just loved it, but I think it would look really nice in our mudroom on the window as a catch all for keys and stuff...love it!

This is just pretty. And for 1.99...perfect

Also the surprise inside is that for 1.99 they even make it pretty inside

This is from Christmas tree shop and I love this store

I also love when people have little dishes and pots and jars and then fill them with pretties

When I saw these I thought they were just right.  It was 1.99 for the small one and 3.99 for the big one

I got 3 little ones, and 2 big ones.  Sprayed 2 little ones, and 1 big one.  This was the first coat, I did another, but I like how they came out and for 5 pots for $14, pretty good, not yard sale good, good enough though.

I also got these cute little glass jars, I'm thinking I'm going to put epsom salt in them and keep them in the bathroom, they were .89 each.  All from christmas tree shop

I got 3 door stops recently with a damask design that I love, I sprayed them cause they were gross, they were $10 EACH but I loved them.  Then they also had these today, on sale for $4.99 each!! so I got 2 of these, but they will just look perfect in my old victorian house! (kind of upset that I spent $30 on the last ones, when I could have clearly just waited and spent $15.  The problem obviously is most times when you wait, you can never ever find it agian.  But you will dream about them, talk about them, obsess about them.  IS my sanity worth $15...perhaps

As I was reading a blog today...I got this great idea.  I want to paint the doors in my house colors.  For the upstairs I'd like to paint them all the same color so if all the doors were closed it would look pretty.  However IF the doors were open they would need to look good inside the rooms...This is where it gets tricky.  Now I could paint it something...neutral, but I'd rather paint it something cute.

Here are the rooms
Hallway- Light tan
Bathroom-light tan
Master-Brown-other colors in room light green and light blue
Guest Room- Mint green
Other guest Room- Yellow

What goes with all that??

I also have a light bluish linen hutch in the hallway...

Anything suggestions? Whats my sudden obsession with doors?

Put on the brakes...its time to breathe

So I didnt get to go to my house today to do the stenciling...Last week the hubs missed the Giants game because we were picking out our appliances, he absolutely would not miss this weeks game, and I needed him to move some very heavy kitchen/bath stuff out of the mudroom.  So a no-go today.

Sometimes all of my projects get all jumbled in my mind, and I start to forget all the things I'm trying to do.  This I can honestly not stand.

SO today I'm refreshing my own memory and writting a sort of CRAFY PROJECT TO-DO LIST

1. Upholstered headboard

Reason I havent completed or attempted this project: My bed which is the most luxurious purchase I have ever bought will be delivered on the 9th of January, also our bedding will come with all my other goodies when we move in.  So its one of those...dont want to go with the wrong fabric,color, wrong size thing..

2. Stenciling the mudroom

Picture this but yellow walls, and cute green stencils, and of course a mudroom

Maybe I should wait until I move in?

3. Finishing my curtains

Ok so because I didnt get to stencil my mudroom today, I did my guestroom curtains instead, I bought these for $14.99 from Ikea, so for 4 panels, it was $30, I did this...which I'm not sure if I love, I'm letting it dry I guess, and then I'll do the other 3 over the next week or so. My guestbedroom is the most delightful shade of mint green, with a big white fluffy bed with darker green trim (like the hotel kind).  So I decided rather than making curtains, I'd just go with white because I want it to look really light and bright.  Of course then I was bored for a minute, so now they are stenciled, no matter what I'll make it work.  Eventually I'll get a pretty trim and add it to finish them.  Not sure how I'm feeling about these??

4. Papering my white hutch

Smart Little Nester

Or

I absolutely love this old books used as wallpaper...like a little obsessed!

5. Make inside of kitchen cabinets look FABULOUS!

I think I'm going to use old books for the inside of my cabinets, and pretty scrapbook paper for my hutch.  My hutch is in storage, and my kitchen wont be done until the 15th. So again these are all projects that have to wait.

6. Paint red door a different color

Any suggestions, I'm thinking either the right red, a pale yellow or a great blue

As I said before I'm a do now, ask questions later kind of gal...so being so excited about a project, and not doing it immediately is SUPER hard for me.  I need to remember that my house, my home will never be complete, perfect, without being able to add something special to it.  And isnt that great?

The reason for my jumping the gun so much with this house is because it took us 5 months to close, and then another 3 months to remodel, while we are still living at my parents house.  Decorating in my head, buying stuff for my home, and doing every project under the sun has made these 8 months a whole lot less miserable.

But now..in 12 days...we will be moving.  So lets put on the brakes. Breathe, probably clean out my closet, junk drawers etc etc etc, and enjoy these last days that I will live at my parents, and leave all these fun projects for when Im in my wonderful new house, that I will most certainly be trying to find projects to do? Right?

Right.

I wonder if someone reads this they feel my mind is all over the place, because it really calms my mind

Pretty Door Color Anyone?

SOS-->Help door colors

So this is my OLD lovely first home victorian

Its dark grey with white and black, and I wanted a red door, but just picked the wrong red

In real life it looks bluish red, in the picture, it looks more orange

I'm also thinking of maybe a blue or yellow

LOVE

OMG

Serenity now

I'm not afraid of doing it wrong, however I love getting it right.  So if anyone has some great reds, yellows or blues, I'd be happy to take your comments. If no comments you force me to buy all the little samples and paint my door a million times, and my new neighbors will know I'm crazy befor I even move in offiially.

(lets be honest once its spray painting season, theres no chance they'll think i'm normal)

In other news...whos obsessed with stencils..?

 Because I am

in my cute little yellow mudroom, I'm going to stencil damask green images..very excited.  Maybe tomorrow, maybe Monday, I was never great at waiting.  Pictures will come soon

On this left wall, its blank and I'm going to put nice stencils all over it, probably under the windows too, but the focal point will be this blank wall.  Ive started to collect all these really nice green hooks over the last 6 months, and I got this great green welcome mat a couple of weeks ago that is going to look cute as pie

kitchen floor

marble countertop

I tried out my stencils on my hot glue tiles.  These were picked for my house, but we just had one of each, and they became my home for my hot glue gun, it works great because I can just peel hot glue right off, plus I LOVE my hot glue gun, so why not make her sit pretty?

Ok paint colors?? any suggestions?

a lot to say...but overall just happy

So..its almost been 2 months.  Ive been reading my favorite blogs as usual, but not writting my own.  I guess as someone new I wanted followers right away, wanted someone to be reading my words, but maybe I'll just write for myself.

Move in day is Jan 15th...I could not be more excited

Our house is in the process of be redone, like the whole thing.  Its a beautiful home, every square inch has been painted on the inside and out.  The hundred year old floors downstairs were refinished in a dark wonderful color.  The upstairs in all beautiful nuetral carpet called suede, its nice to have new.  Just married, its our first house, and I cant tell you how proud of it we are.  The basement was just the foundation and dirt on the floor!...now its concrete on the floor, which somehow feels fancy lol.  The bathroom is currently being completely redone.. Like all that was there was drywall.  So me and the HUBS are going up tomorrow to see the bathroom.  It should be done on January 8th, so we could technically move in on the 8th.  Then the kitchen is getting redone.

So let me tell you a little bit about the bathroom- so whats getting done is tile floor, tile backsplash in the shower, new toilet, new vanity (again there was nothing in the bathroom but drywall).  Then paint and trim and all that great stuff.  SOOO excited.

The Kitchen- Very excited about the kitchen.  We had ugly oak tanish cabinets...all repainted white, they look new its incredible.  paint really still does amaze me.  Then new tile floor, We got those fancy cieling tiles, so they are going up, and they are white and super ornante and beautiful.  The kitchen was painted a very light pale blue color, I thought it would make it look fresh and clean, which if you saw the kitchen before, you would understand why I was going for that.  Then the backsplash is the silver tin...love it! And the countertops are a brownish, black, white parts in it marble...very excited about that.  And we got all new apliances last Sunday.  All stainless steal, beautiful, we got the fancy french trio frig, that the top is the fridge and the bottom is the freezer...yes if a frig could be sexy...that would be our frig. 

SO overall kitchen scheme:
White cabinets
Stainless steel appliances
Silver tin backsplash
White ornate ceiling tiles
Light fresh blue walls
And...randomly all of the hardware and faucet are french oil rubbed bronze.

Our whole house is very neutral in colors, all tans and nice browns, so im excited about the rooms i decided to have spashes of color.

Anyway....Since I havent been on here I have been very busy

I worked on like a million curtains...seriously

I did master bedroom curtains, kitchen, 2 hallway curtains, dining room curtains, it was hours and hours and wonderfully satisfying but at the same time very exhasting.

I also have been playing with moss and making topiary which I love.

I bought today plates for my dining room which I'm really excited about.  I'm very into symmetry so it worries me not knowing how my plate wall will look.  But I bought 3 yellow, 3 light aqua- all medium sized. Then one darker aqua larger, and one small white plate.  I think I'd like some burnt red colors, and some more white and I'm done, maybe some with birds on them? that sounds really cute.

Something that I've learned from picking everything furniture/accessory to every tile, paint color/stain or appliance, what I've learned is that I trust my taste, and I love my taste.  Mistakes that I made with my house...our painter painted the outside of our house this nice deep grey with black trim and a red door, its all very nice, but the red is not the right red.  And if you've ever painted the wrong red...then you know what I mean..  Its just wrong, its too blue.  So now we really have to repaint it, cause I hate it, but its so cold in NY I dont know if I can really paint it this time of year?? No clue.  And the second mistake was I did a light tanish color in the bathroom, and a brown ceiling...I've seen it done before, but the colors aren't close enuf to have the right effect.  I'm still thinking i'll just keep it, live with it, and maybe when my new vanity and stuff is there it will be right.  But at the end of the day...its only paint, very very fixable.  And the 2nd thing I've learned is maybe the same thing, but I have great vision, I can picture things redone, so many ppl close to me and my hubs said not to buy our house.  They are the same people who now want to live in our house and cant get over it.  I love that I have vision, and I love that dont let other people talk me out of something that I love. 

It feels great getting this all out btw.

Projects for the new year:
1. MORE curtains
  -Mudroom
  -curtains for both of my bathrooms
2.  Headboard
      - Our house is from 1890...so the rooms are small, and I dont want to overpower the room...hence why I've been thinking about this more than normal

And I'm sure theres a lot more...but I feel so happy with all that I have completed lately, and cant wait to move in and take lots of pictures.  I also have before pictures when the house looked like total crap.  LOVE IT

HAPPY NEW YEARS!!

My New Business

I'm just going to do it.

I went thru 12 years of school, only to be followed by 4 1/2 years of college, 2 majors, 3 internships...and now I am an assistant manager at a retail store.  The truth is I wasnt sure what I wanted to do, but I'm a go-geter and sitting behind a desk all day didnt seem like something that was right for me.  Now I'm certainly not a millionaire, but I have job security and I'm making pretty good money for only 2 years out of school. 

So...am I happy? Am I fufilled? Am I doing what I Love?

I love all things crafty, and last night my sister (Debbie) and I decided to go into business together.  Repurposing furniture, making cute decorative crafts.  Now all of you are great, and can do all these things, but most keep cant, wont, or dont know how...so thats where we come in.

I want to fill my days with things I love (ie...paint, a glue gun and inspiration)

I'm sure I'll be selling things on ETSY soon, but honestly I just hope this works.  Id love to be able to work from home, and continue to do what I do but just make a profit.  I would love to be able to quit my real job and make my passion my real job.  I would love to be able to have kids, stay home and make money.  Am I asking for too much?  I hope not.

Last night I couldnt fall asleep, and eventhough I worked last night until 11, I woke up this morning at 7am with ideas in my head. 

I'm new on blogspot...I would love some followers, even if you dont ever buy a thing, but if we could get inspiration through eachother, and you could give me positive and negative feedback, then maybe I could make my crazy little dream come true. 

A life filled with things you love...thats all I'm looking for.

Wish me luck today on garage sales, today is the first day I go to look for others

What I got from my garage sales yesterday:

So I will send you pictures today of what I get and also what I do to these pieces