Furniture!

Okay, like I said earlier, I jump the gun...I'm ready to admit it and not ashamed. Therefore, I have picked out new furniture for our "new home." I only say "new home" because closing isn't until August 7th, so anything could possibly happen between now and then...but, fingers crossed...

Here are a few finds! Do you all know about Overstock.com? They ship most anything for 2.95 or LESS, even furniture!! And, it is always cheaper because it is "extra" from the manufacturer. Did you know how hard it is to find the perfect tv table?? One that is high enough, long enough, and not too deep?? Phew...needless to say I was thrilled to find this one at $300 with next to free shipping. I did find a few others at JCPenny, but their shipping charges were astronomical! Look at this pretty TV table, which we desperately need whether or not we move into this particular home.

And, I love this rug! At $160 you can't go wrong. It has the colors of our living room (the walls will be green and we will have wood floors). I looked at the reviews online and they said the colors are really a nice dark red and green with gold and ivory tones. Love it! Muted and understated, but still very traditional.

I couldn't figure out how to upload the next two pictures. But, one is a beautiful trendy mirror that I'd like to hang over the couch to make the room seem bigger. I love that it is a bit on the modern side, but still very classy looking.

http://www.westelm.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?partNumber=WE-PRODa048&storeId=17001&langId=-1&catalogId=17002&viewSetCode=E&parentId=WE-SH1WALMIR&retainNav=true&cmsrc=WE-SH1WALMIR

And, this is a really neat headboard. We can't afford an entire frame right now, but West Elm also sells bed frames, so when we are ready and willing, we can buy the frame separately and the pieces will match! I love the design and the furniture in our bedroom is dark cherry wood.

http://www.westelm.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?partNumber=WE-PRODf833&cmsrc=rel&storeId=17001&langId=-1&catalogId=17002&viewSetCode=E

OK...that's all for now. Let me know what you think!

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Weekend Update

This was my latest project. My dad built this bookshelf in junior high and it housed my shoes in our closet last year in Sarasota. It was brown and, I love you dad, ugly! It needed a fresh coat of paint and some contact paper. Doesn't it look great?? I only toot my own horn bc I am proud of my new found ability. :)

Well, BIG NEWS! Danny and I are under contract for our first home! It is in an adorable neighborhood in South Tampa, close to school for me and close to the crosstown expressway for Danny. The best of both worlds! We went back and forth with the seller, and finally put our foot down and went out on a limb with our final price (lower than his 'final price') and got exactly what we wanted!! It is a very small home, at about 1300 square feet, 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. The main room is half living/family, half dining with no wall separator so I will need to be crafty in "separating" the two rooms. We are very excited, but still need to go through inspection (fingers crossed since it is an old home). We will keep you updated.

It was a rainy weekend full of searching for the perfect wood to put in our new home (coming august 7th!) and relaxing inside. I was proud of Danny and I for searching and searching until we got the best deal on the type of wood we want! We went to lumber liquidators, but were very nervous when we found out that most of their wood is discontinued or damaged and that is why they can sell it for so cheap! They also tacked on additional charges that were extraordinarily expensive for glue and sealant. I knew I could do better! We finally haggled with a local wood store and they are going to rough up our current floors (terrazzo yuk!), set the new wood, and give us new base boards all for a GREAT price! Yippee!!! I love to cross things off my list and that was a big one. I just know the closer I get to the end of the summer (and closing day) that is not something I want to worry about since we will be worried with getting our booties in that house!

It is hard not living alone, but we are so thankful for Danny's parents to let us live in their home, eat their food, watch their tv, and so much more! We are looking at another 5 weeks and I know we can all do it and still be friends! Ha! I have already been shopping for home items (if you know me at all, you know I jump way ahead of myself most of the time!). I will share a few of them with you in a bit. For now, have a great week and remember to enjoy the rest of the summer because it is flying by!

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1 year wedding anniversary

Danny and I just celebrated our one year wedding anniversary in Savannah, GA. Actually, today is our anniversary...we just celebrated a bit early since he has to work tomorrow and it's Father's Day. We went up on Friday and got in around 12PM. Our Inn was fantastic. We stayed at the Old Savannah Inn in the historic district. It was close to everything and our inn keeper was incredible! She made us feel right at home instantly. Our room was beautiful...as you can see.

There are only four rooms at the Inn and needless to say, we made friends along the way. She made the most incredible breakfast which included bacon, egg, and onion quiche, blueberry pancakes, goat cheese grits, fresh fruit, baked grapefruit....YUM!! I would highly recommend her inn to anyone!

While we we there, we toured the city Friday and Saturday. The architecture is absolutely stunning. We took a ghost tour as well, which was frightening! I even caught an "orb" on my camera which is supposedly a ghost/spirit. Not sure how much I believe in it, but the other couple we were staying with took a picture at night of the most haunted house in Savannah and they have wavy bright lines all through their picture. It was a bit frightening!!

We even got to go by and see Paula Dean's restaurant (but didn't catch her in action).and went out to dinner both nights. On Friday, we ate at the Old Pink House and on Saturday, Elizabeth's on Thirty Seventh. They were both gorgeous and delicious.

I can't believe that it has been a year. We have been through so much and it has only brought us closer together and a more unified couple. I love him more than I did when I married him, and I'm looking forward to the years ahead.

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Finished Piece #1!!

I really should have done a before and after...this night stand/end table was dark brown and had tons of scratches on it from top to bottom.  We sanded, and sanded, and sanded, painted and painted and painted.  Finally, I am very impressed with my handiwork.  I have to toot my own horn a bit, because it took a lot of time and patience!  I am really happy with my choice and it will go in our guest room *when we get there* as a night stand.  From the pictures, you can see that this is taken in our "room of junk" at Danny's parent's house.  It is a disaster, which is why the picture is a bit off.  I couldn't stand to get the rest of the room in the shot!!  Here you go, all for your enjoyment :) 

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Furniture Rehab Phase 1

I thought it would be soooo easy.  All I wanted was my dark brown nightstand to turn white! We researched, decided to sand, prime, paint...how can it go wrong???

Well, we sanded...then we primed...and now we have painted the piece...three times! Lord help me.  I just really want this to turn out. I have taken a break from it, because I am hoping Father Time will make it turn into a beautiful shabby sheek table in no time! HA.  Oh, and going to Lowes was no easy thing.  Let me tell you we made quite the fool of ourselves.  The man behind the paint counter probably thinks we don't have brains.  I can't tell you how many questions we asked and we are still in this predicament.  On my third return to Lowes, he looked at me and said "why are you back?" I simply replied with, "I am just making sure I am not missing any steps or necessary items."  He turned away.  Not very good service, but hey, there was a nice lady who explained everything and told me "Bless your heart, you are never going to want to do this again."  Not TRUE!! I want to design our guest bedroom this way!! Buying cheap furniture and painting it shabby sheek white.  If anyone has any suggestions, let me know-I am in a bit of a spot.

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Settling In

Well, we are officially Tampa residents!  Hey, we may not be in our own home just yet, but we are on our way!  All of our things are here and we are living as comfortably as possible.  Lola is settling in as well.  She is a little awry with the new animals (she has never had sisters before), but overall I think she is adjusting nicely.  

We have started to look at homes in the area just to get a feel for what we can afford where.  We have decided that we definitely want to live in South Tampa, even if that means we get a smaller home than we had expected.  The neighborhoods in that area are beautiful and remind me so much of where I grew up (Winter Park, FL).  Lots of big oak trees, neat lawns, and homes at every price range.  I think it will mean buying a starter home and possibly adding on or just selling when it becomes to small.  The home we can afford now in that area certainly won't be the type of home we want to be in forever unless extra square footage can be attained in some way.  

I already have a few "events" planned for my week.  Monday I am going to St. Mary's to meet with their HR department and my new lower school head.  Wednesday I am going to go to Dinners Done and get some meals for Danny and I so that we are not always hoping that his parents will take care of dinner...plus the meals are incredible!! www.dinnerdone.com.  The best part is that you pay $150 for 8 full size meals, but you can go and split those 8 meals into 16 meals for 2 and it makes it much more affordable.  These are all meals that can be frozen and thawed to eat whenever!  I also need to get my grandmother's scrap book page together this week for her 80th birthday party.  It will be a busy week, and I do promise to start capturing photos of my "events" to make my blog a little more interesting :).  

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Freedom!!

Danny received a job offer yesterday at the Department of Transportation in Bartow, FL.  Of course, HE TOOK IT!! This means so much for us.  This job will serve as a "training" program for him in which we will spend a little bit of time in each section of the DOT and then choose one section to narrow in on the last year and a half.  After he comes out of this job, he will certainly be highly wanted because of his background skills in all areas of civil engineering.  It is a three year job (until he gets his professional engineering license).  Then, he can either stay on and move up the ranks or transfer to a private firm in Tampa.  I hardly knew what a rut we were in until now.  It takes such a physical and mental toll on a person when they do not feel needed or wanted.  I think this is great for Danny.  I can already tell a change in his day to day outlook.  Plus, he starts next Friday which gives us tons of time to still have some vacation time together :).  

The first thing we started to talk about was "when can we buy a house??"  That has been our goal since the beginning of our marriage and we have a very nice down payment that will allow us to buy a great starter home.  But, we will most likely look in Brandon, FL for our first few years since it would be such an easier commute for Danny.  The gas and insurance for him to drive from Tampa to Bartow every day is going to be insane.  And, that is fine while we are living with his parents, but not when we want to own a home as well.  This doesn't have to be where we live forever, but I think it is the best choice for now.  Plus, we can get a much larger, nicer, and newer home there for the price we want to pay.  We have our whole lives to live in Tampa and have our dream home there.  But, that just isn't going to happen right away.  

We are still staying with our wonderful friends, Michael and Melissa, through Friday.  We will probably leave Friday or Saturday to go on to Tampa.  It really started to hit me yesterday when I turned in my keys to the classroom and said my goodbyes.  I will truly miss the beautiful city of Sarasota, but I know we are moving on to a better life for the both of us.  But, one thing I will really miss are the beautiful sunsets and beaches.  Good thing this has been our vacation home since I was very small :) We will be back!!

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