I was out shopping with the girls yesterday at the mall. I haven't been shopping at full priced stores in a LONG time, and I was totally appalled by how much everything costs! I've gotten used to thrift store pricing, so $14.99 sounds pretty expensive to me for a shirt! I did find a couple of things - a pretty lace embellished tank top for $11 at Banana Republic, and some Teva flip flops for $9.99.
Anyway, as we were shopping, one of my friends defined my style (with some help from me) as "slouchy chic." I love that! It's exactly what I am. I like blousy tops that are supposed to be that way with a pencil skirt or wide leg linen pants. I wear rolled up jeans with "boat shoes," as my dad calls them, but the next day, I'll wear skinny jeans with heals. I flop back and forth, but I'm beginning to gravitate toward this aptly defined "slouchy chic." It's a little yacht club, but less preppy and less beachy. OK, that's all that yacht club is, so I'm not sure how to explain.
So, what's your style? Can you think of a name for it?
Friday, May 27, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
Gardening
So everyone knows I'm a little frugal. I'm known for my couponing skills and my thrift store skills. So, this year, I'm translating that into gardening. I want a relatively hassle free yard. I don't want to have to plant annuals every single year. I want perennials that come up without me having to do much to them. The problem is this: perennials are not very cheap. They can be really expensive, actually. Quart sized perennials at Lowe's can run upwards of $10...entirely too expensive for this cheap girl!
This year, however, I noticed that Lowe's in particular puts its perennials on MAJOR markdown once they start to bloom - because they are harder to sell if they don't have a million beautiful flowers on them. These plants, though, do have plenty of flowers left, and some haven't even really hit their prime yet. I have, to date, purchased somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 perennials in 1 quart containers for one dollar each. The varieties include things like Hosta, various lilies, tulips, poppies, and a few things I hadn't heard of yet, but were really pretty.
Here's the catch: we don't really have our garden space laid out yet, so I have been temporarily stashing them in our vegetable garden's extra space. Hopefully we will find a home for them before the fall and I can move them to their rightful places. I'm really excited about it to be honest! I think they'll bloom beautifully next year, and I got them for basically nothing!
I'm so excited!!
This year, however, I noticed that Lowe's in particular puts its perennials on MAJOR markdown once they start to bloom - because they are harder to sell if they don't have a million beautiful flowers on them. These plants, though, do have plenty of flowers left, and some haven't even really hit their prime yet. I have, to date, purchased somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 perennials in 1 quart containers for one dollar each. The varieties include things like Hosta, various lilies, tulips, poppies, and a few things I hadn't heard of yet, but were really pretty.
Here's the catch: we don't really have our garden space laid out yet, so I have been temporarily stashing them in our vegetable garden's extra space. Hopefully we will find a home for them before the fall and I can move them to their rightful places. I'm really excited about it to be honest! I think they'll bloom beautifully next year, and I got them for basically nothing!
I'm so excited!!
Headboard Benches
So my mom and I were out shopping at a downtown consignment/antique shop called Merchants on Main. It's in the southside district of our town which is reviving right now. They were having a sidewalk sale, and I found this BEAUTIFUL antique upholstered headboard for just under $20 (after tax!).
I've been looking for a bench for our dining room table, and I thought this might be the perfect back for one. All of the benches I have seen thus far have been one of three things: 1. No back - you can't eat dinner in a seat with no back comfortably, 2. UGLY, 3. Rediculously expensive (like thousands of dollars....ummm, no). So, I decided to make my own. The idea is that the bench can sit in another room of the house until we have enough guests over to need more seating. Then we can pull it up to the table and avoid having some strangely large number of dining room chairs floating around the house.
So, that's what I'm into these days, just working on that bench. I haven't gotten super far on it. I've stained the wood pieces. Assembly will come in a later post. I'll keep you updated!
I've been looking for a bench for our dining room table, and I thought this might be the perfect back for one. All of the benches I have seen thus far have been one of three things: 1. No back - you can't eat dinner in a seat with no back comfortably, 2. UGLY, 3. Rediculously expensive (like thousands of dollars....ummm, no). So, I decided to make my own. The idea is that the bench can sit in another room of the house until we have enough guests over to need more seating. Then we can pull it up to the table and avoid having some strangely large number of dining room chairs floating around the house.
So, that's what I'm into these days, just working on that bench. I haven't gotten super far on it. I've stained the wood pieces. Assembly will come in a later post. I'll keep you updated!
It's been a while!
Well, I feel like it's been a while since I've done this, and it has! About 10 months ago, I posted about our bathroom renovation - which is now mostly complete! We just lack some trimwork around the windows, and that will wait until we actually have the money to replace them. In the meantime, we have taken on another MAJOR renovation - in our living, dining, and hallway spaces.
Living Room (fireplace and side door) Before
Our home was built in 1928. It originally had 9 foot ceilings, but those were lowered sometime during the 1960s for efficiency and given a popcorn texture for reasons only people then understood. There were no overhead lights in the living room with this new lower ceiling - even though there was evidence that the older, higher ceiling did have them.
Dining Room (note our only cooling source) Before
So, we began the project in March and are just now finishing up. Thus far, we have: stripped the rooms down to studs and ceiling joists,
knocked out a wall between the dining room and kitchen, reinforced the ceiling and put in headers in the doorways, created archways between the rooms,
put in insulation in the outside walls (there was none before), installed recessed lighting in all areas and a chandlier in the dining room, re-drywalled (no popcorn here!), added a MILLION electrical outlets (I was starved before), AND - this is my favorite - refinish
ed the beautiful but hiding hardwood floors! 
Oh, and we had someone come put in central heat and air! It is revolutionizing our lives! We are NOT sweating through the nights any more! It's been a BUSY couple of months.
The rooms are so bright now. The high ceilings and the lights make a huge difference. Cami's not sure what to think of the hardwoods - or the holes in the floor for the air conditioning. She's having to relearn how to run in the house. She is, however, happy to have her spot on the couch back. It's been hiding in the garage for 5 weeks.
We've hung the TV on the wall and sent the cords through the wall, so it looks very nice - not cluttered by wires running everywhere. Eventually, a built in cabinet will go next to the fireplace to hold all of the components. For now, though, they are just on the floor.
The trim, baseboards, and crown molding are all painted but not up yet. We decided to replace the windows and doors before hanging them to avoid the possibility of having to hang them again. John was nice enough to cut some trim and our baseboards for me because I have strange taste that doesn't exist in regular hardware stores. He has a great setup at his house complete with router table, planer, sander, and lots of saw horses.
It's still not finished yet, but we are getting closer! Furniture is getting moved back in slowly, and I'm determined not to put any CLUTTER back in these rooms! Let's hope I succeed! I'll post updates of the finished project soon!
Living Room (fireplace and side door) BeforeOur home was built in 1928. It originally had 9 foot ceilings, but those were lowered sometime during the 1960s for efficiency and given a popcorn texture for reasons only people then understood. There were no overhead lights in the living room with this new lower ceiling - even though there was evidence that the older, higher ceiling did have them.
Dining Room (note our only cooling source) Before
So, we began the project in March and are just now finishing up. Thus far, we have: stripped the rooms down to studs and ceiling joists,
knocked out a wall between the dining room and kitchen, reinforced the ceiling and put in headers in the doorways, created archways between the rooms,
put in insulation in the outside walls (there was none before), installed recessed lighting in all areas and a chandlier in the dining room, re-drywalled (no popcorn here!), added a MILLION electrical outlets (I was starved before), AND - this is my favorite - refinish
ed the beautiful but hiding hardwood floors! 
Oh, and we had someone come put in central heat and air! It is revolutionizing our lives! We are NOT sweating through the nights any more! It's been a BUSY couple of months.The rooms are so bright now. The high ceilings and the lights make a huge difference. Cami's not sure what to think of the hardwoods - or the holes in the floor for the air conditioning. She's having to relearn how to run in the house. She is, however, happy to have her spot on the couch back. It's been hiding in the garage for 5 weeks.
We've hung the TV on the wall and sent the cords through the wall, so it looks very nice - not cluttered by wires running everywhere. Eventually, a built in cabinet will go next to the fireplace to hold all of the components. For now, though, they are just on the floor.
The trim, baseboards, and crown molding are all painted but not up yet. We decided to replace the windows and doors before hanging them to avoid the possibility of having to hang them again. John was nice enough to cut some trim and our baseboards for me because I have strange taste that doesn't exist in regular hardware stores. He has a great setup at his house complete with router table, planer, sander, and lots of saw horses.
It's still not finished yet, but we are getting closer! Furniture is getting moved back in slowly, and I'm determined not to put any CLUTTER back in these rooms! Let's hope I succeed! I'll post updates of the finished project soon!
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