TaDa! and finally... the bedroom reveal

It all started with Grad Girl moving back home...
and a dream color palette

Below is the blue toile wallpaper, two different patterns (see... in the mirror). It was there when we moved in and I loved it! I wouldn't let her talk me into changing it for 7 years! But... when she came back home after college, I finally relented.
So... we started the project and the demo of stripping wallpaper. I mean we... scored and sprayed and scraped the wallpaper. Then we washed the walls to get the glue residue off, then we primed, and spackled and sanded and primed again. Are you tired yet? We were!

But we were inspired by the "Procrastinator's Party" and stuck to our 2 week deadline. Thank you Melissa over at The Inspired Room!!! We never could have done it without you!

After 2+ weeks of prepping the walls... the next step was to paint. First we had to choose a paint color. I like to be real sure when painting and totally believe in the new "testers" you can buy. We started with 3 but still weren't totally sold on the perfect color, so... we tried 2 more.

Here are the colors we tried...

We wanted a relaxing subtle spa color to go with the bedding. Like Goldilocks and the three bears... one was too dark and one was too bright (that's how it was in the fairy tale right?), but we finally found the perfect color... "Rushing River" a Duron color we mixed into Behr paint. Calm and soothing and perfect with the Pottery Barn "Painterly Paisley" bedding!

So on to the painting... then the 2nd coat... and finally we're done!

Then came "dressing" the room with all her stuff

We happened to find the perfect color drapes at Target

The "inspiration plates" ... a steal from HomeGoods for $3.99 each!

the jewelry nook

So... there it is! We love the color and the way it all came together. Grad Girl is thrilled with the finished room and that makes it all worth the time and effort!

what do you think?

this DIY feature posted at
also posted at DIY Day @ A Soft Place to Land
and Metamorphosis Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch

my festive fall decor

Welcome... come on in!

Just enough to be festive... happy fall y'all!

oh, and... I do have my white pumpkin cookie jar
that I absolutely love!

stop by Kelly's Korner for more fall decor

have I told you...

yes, that's right... my grand baby is a boy and due to arrive in March! We are a family with 3 girls so this will be a big treat for all of us.
Here's the first photo for the album...Isn't he the cutest?!

alias grandma

Procrastinators progress report

this is where I started

Okay... it's been two weeks since we signed up for our "accountability" at the Procrastinators Party at the Inspired Room, and I have to say it helped me tremendously! I always had in the back of my mind the deadline to finish what I said I would do, and... I did it! I finished stripping the wallpaper in my daughter's bedroom. It was quite the chore of scoring and spraying and scraping... tedious to say the least. It's not so glamorous yet as the walls still need to be primed and spackled and painted, but... the wallpaper is gone! Hooray!I promise to re-post photos when all the painting is done and the room is picture perfect. In the meantime I want to thank Melissa at "The Inspired Room" for giving me the kick in the a-- to get the job done!

Here's the redecorating plan... the new bedding, paint color and "Inspiration Plate" to hang on the wall. It's going to look great!

Happy 1st Anniversary...

Kristin & Ryan!

One year ago today you said your vows to each other
amidst family and friends.

Happy memories of a beautiful day and the beginning of your new life together... congratulations!

a year ago...

Last year this week we were in Hilton Head celebrating the festivities leading up to my daughter's wedding. It was the best of times... when all the family, extended family and close friends were all together. We all truly enjoy each other and had a blast!
We had a beautiful sunny day for our Beach Olympics as you can see from these photos. The highlight was the "sponge relay" where we had to run down to the ocean, fill the sponge with water, run it back and squeeze the water into a cup, first team to fill it and dislodge a ping pong ball out the top was the winner. We had 3 teams and everyone gave it their all! We also had several rounds of beach bocce, water balloon toss and this ball on a string toss... what's it called game?

The Blue team, the Aqua team and the Yellow team...

all winners that day with good times as the prize!

a home improvement discovery!

I love beadboard, or beaded board as it's called. I have it on several walls in my house and my lake house. We added it to the back hallway off the kitchen, we have it on the ceiling of our bonus room, I've even made a headboard out of it. Well... I was so pleasantly surprised to find out that there is a more affordable, flexible and non-wood alternative... paintable beadboard wallpaper!

I was amazed at the projects the ladies participating in Southern Hospitality's BeadBoard Wallpaper Party accomplished! Go over and get inspired...

The pros vs. real wood beadboard:
1. it's less expensive $21.96 per roll (56 sq ft) vs. $32 per 4' x 8' wood sheet (32 sq ft)
2. it's thinner so you can add it to a wall and the baseboard molding will still fit
3. it's easier to cut, no saws needed
4. it won't warp

all in all a great alternative, available at Home Depot. Now... where can I put it???

"Beer Butt Chicken"

after 1hour... not ready yet!

This past weekend while food shopping I bought a fryer chicken, which I usually roast in the oven, but it does make a greasy mess of the pan and the oven, yuck. Not wanting to make a mess and clean up that mess, I thought... "maybe I can grill a whole chicken". So I googled... and came up with this recipe for grilling a chicken with a beer can stuck up it's "butt". You can't see my can, but it's up there. My chicken was 4 lbs and it took about an hour and 1/2, but boy was it moist and good! And... the best part... NO mess to clean up!

Here's a link to the recipe, give it a try, and like it says "you'll never go back to roasting again"!
Beer Can Chicken Recipe link

never enough argyle

Konad Stamping nail art
as seen on the beauty blog A Beautiful Sentiment

now... I've got to find the matching knee socks!

President's Cup 2009

As of this morning, the Americans were up 12.5 to 9.5 in scoring. But... what about the important stuff... the golf fashion! Who's your vote for best-dressed team?
Here is a day by day recap of the Americans vs. the Internationals...

Day 1 Thursday

American uniform of the day: red sweaters, white shirts and gray pinstripe pants

vs.

Internationals: black vests or sweaters with an argyle patterned shirt and light gray pants

here they are head to head... what's your vote?

Day 2 Friday

Americans: navy stripe shirts and white vests with navy pants
vs.

Internationals: blue argyle shirts and khaki vests with khaki pants


Day 3 Saturday

Americans: navy shirts, gray argyle sweaters with gray pants
vs.

Internationals: black & white shirts, white sweaters with black pants

Day 4 Sunday

Americans: red & white stripe shirts, navy vests or sweaters with navy pants

vs.

Internationals: yellow shirts, dark gray sweaters w/a yellow & blue argyle design with gray pants

At the end of the 4 day long match... the Americans won scoring 19.5 t0 14.5! But... the big question is...who wins the fashion contest? What was your fave fashion of the match?

American apparel sponsors: Ashworth and Elevee Golf

International apparel sponsor: the Greg Norman Collection (of course!)