Highs and Lows: "Date Night Before 8am" Edition

Hey everyone!  It's Sunday, and we went to church last night (yeah for Saturday night service!), and I'm sitting here procrastinating on making my grocery list...so hey, why not do a Highs and Lows?  ;)  (This used to be a link party thing, but I don't think Jen is doing it anymore...but I still like to.)

I like to start with the Lows so I can end on a positive note...although I'm happy to say this week there weren't many lows...

1. Well, actually....really no specific lows this week.  I guess my only complaint would have to be the Dealing With the Bickering Children, what seems like every day.  Not all day every day, but at least once every day they get into it with each other.  It is so tiring to listen to.  I busted out a mini-lecture this morning and at present they are both playing individually and everything seems fine.  It's funny...it's like watching me & DH in them...SHE wants to play and do stuff, and HE needs his space.  SHE gets frustrated and tries to force him to do stuff, and HE digs in his heels and refuses.  Eventually one of them resorts to physical force (uh, that's where the similarities end!) and the tattle-taleing begins.  Depending on my mood/state of mind, I deal with it in varying degrees of "good mom-ness."  I'm really trying to not just yell every time...that really doesn't do any good.

HIGHS this week:

1. The kids went to day camp for the first time.  They had SUCH a blast and it was really awesome to hear them talk nonstop about their days when they'd get home.  We will definitely be sending them again next year.  I think it's so good for them.  And at the closing program (where they sing songs & do skits for us), each counselor chose one kid from their group to have the team flag - this was for the kid who was the "most encouraging" to the other kids.  And my little guy got the flag for his kindergarten group.  :)  I was so proud of him. 

2. SINCE the kids were in day camp every day, DH & I got to go out Friday morning and do the yard sales till our hearts' content, without having to cut it short because we feel guilty dragging the kids around with us.  We had such a great time.  Yard sale-ing is sort of like our "date night."  A date night that starts at 7:45 am, and I don't have to do my hair or pay for a sitter. 

3. I got my blog switched over, yay!  Gilbert Street Stitches...how do you like it?  :)  I think the name change is what it needed.  AND I did it without having to purchase a domain name, which I'm not sure I want to do right now...AND without losing all my content, links & friends.  I did it by following the most AWESOME step-by-step instructions over at this techie person's site. 

OH and here's a question:  I did the design myself (not that there's much to it...) and it looks great on my laptop.  But when I view my blog on our "main" desktop computer, my header (the yellow part) is all off-center and it looks bad.   -Insert Nancy Kerrigan "WHYYYYYYY?" here-  does it look bad on YOUR computer?  Can anyone tell me how to fix this so that it looks centered on ALL screens?  That would be super....

Well that's it for me this week!  Soaking up the last bits of summer with the kiddos....sigh.  I love summer.

Crazy stuff happening!

Hey guys,


This weekend I will be working on moving my blog over to a new address (yeah!) ...hopefully WITHOUT losing a whole bunch of links, friends, and all that stuff.  


WISH ME LUCK.  I'm not the most tech-savvy person in the world.  But I am possibly the cheapest person in the world, which is why I'm attempting to do this myself instead of letting a professional handle it.  Haha.  If it all goes horribly wrong, I think it'll be OK because I've backed everything up...


IF YOU ARE NOT GETTING ANY NEW POSTS in your reader or email by Monday, then make sure you click through from here to my blog and you'll be re-directed to my new one.  You'll want to update your RSS/email subscriptions, probably...I'm not quite sure if I can do that for you or not.  

Anyway, things could get a little weird for a few days!  Just so you know.  Hang in there with me, by Monday it should all be good.  :) 

Rachel 

$15 Office Makeover

Well, hi!  I have, in fact, NOT fallen off the face of the earth.  Just in case you were wondering. 

Today...just a quickie little "before & after" of a room in our house.  This is the sunroom, otherwise known as the "computer/sewing/whatever-else-we-can-cram-into-it" room.  One half is my sewing area, the other half is DH's office area.  I have a lot of supplies.  HE has a lot of supplies.  Usually this room is an absolute  nightmare to look at.

Behold:

That's the office side.  My sewing side, when kept clean, is fine.  But this office...there were some inherent problems.

Problem #1: The Hutch.  Otherwise known as the "clutter magnet."  Really, it served no purpose but to provide a place for us to put stuff on, that we didn't know where else to put.

Solution: Get rid of it!
New Problem 1 1/2: Wanna see what 8+ years of sitting by a sunny window will do to a desk?

Yeah.  That's apparently the official place where the "sun doesn't shine."

Solution: Paint, of course!  I resisted the very strong urge to go to Home Depot.  I wanted to spiff up this room for as little money as humanly possible.  So to the basement I went, and much to my surprise and delight, we had almost a full quart of black semi-gloss paint.  AND primer.  AND I even found some little mini foam roller covers down there.  Our basement is a dark and scary place, but you can find good stuff there if you look!

Problem #2: The Big Hulking Chair
Just not fitting for such a teeny tiny room.  Plus, it spins around, so when the kids would get on it and use it like a piece of playground equipment, it put gashes in the front of the desk, making the desk even more unsightly. 

Solution: My $3 flea market chair!  A little paint & fabric, and there ya go.

And here is the new and improved desk, sans hutch, all freshly painted:

OK!  Moving on...
Problem #3: The Corner of Junk

Scary.

Solution: Shelves...was going to buy some from IKEA, but DH reminded me that we had some shelves down in the basement (see?) that his work was just going to throw away.  They'd been down there for more than a year.

Brought them up, cleaned them off, spent $12 on brackets, and.............

Ho yeah!

And here it is, all together...SO much better now!

I still need to find a solution for all those wires under the desk.  But I'm going to wait, because I have a feeling that the big old computer is about to be forced into retirement, to be replaced by a young ambitious laptop.  We shall see.

Oh and I couldn't resist...I was taking this picture, and I looked up, and this is what I saw :)

Changes to Pleased as Punch

*SIGH*

I'm tired of my name.  There, I said it.

I liked it at first.  But now it just sounds "cutesy" to me.  Like, the "trying too hard to be cutesy" sort of cutesy.  I don't believe that I am trying too hard.  I don't believe that I even want to be a "cute" blog - not that there's anything wrong with cute blogs...they're fun to look at.  I'm just pretty sure that's not me, but I think my name says something different.

And honestly, lately, I feel a little stupid when I have to tell someone what the name of my blog is.

Ummmmm...that's not good!  At all!

But even more than a name change, I've been thinking of a whole shift for what I'm doing over here.  Maybe not a big shift, maybe just a little more focus perhaps.   I just used "maybe" and "perhaps" in the same sentence.  Does that just scream "decisive" or what???

I have some ideas.  But I'm interested in knowing what YOU think.  Please don't leave me with the sound of crickets chirping!  :)  I really want to know!

Why do you read my blog?  What do you come here hoping to find?  (I mean BESIDES my hilarious, witty and engrossing posts. Obviously.) What do you wish you saw more of here?  Why are you NOT reading anymore (and I realize that if you're reading this now, that question probably doesn't apply)?

You can be honest; you won't hurt my feelings!  Inquiring minds want to know.  :)

Summer Reading List

Oh, the dreaded summer reading list.  I used to have one of those from 3rd grade on up.  Every summer, I would wait until about a week before school started, and then do nothing but read...cramming all the books in, and then skimming the ones that didn't hold my interest.  (That was most of them.)  Books like The Hobbit...all I remember is the description of Gollum, those endless songs and poems in italics, and some place called Murkwood.  I'm sure if I read it today, I'd find it more interesting, but it was pure torture for me back in high school.  I'm also pretty sure that at this point in my life, I'll just wait for the movie.  Don't judge! ;)

Life is so ironic.  NOW, I can't get enough reading done.  My "to-read" list is a mile long.  If I finish a book and don't have another one to start that night, I get irritated.  Emergency trips to the library happen.  (I'm pretty sure I'll be the last person on earth to get a Kindle!  That's OK with me.)

My new year's resolution to "read more" is actually going awesome-ly.  Being on Goodreads helps - it keeps track of the books I read, and it's a great place to find which books I want to read next.  Tons and tons of reader reviews.  Here's my profile - if you're on it too, friend me!  I love to see what my friends are reading!

Anyway, this summer I've read the following:

The Bishop of Rwanda: Finding Forgiveness Amidst a Pile of Bones by John Rucyahana

Becoming More Than a Good Bible Study Girl by Lysa TerKeurst

Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream by David Platt

The Giver by Lois Lowry

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
(well, I read half of it.  I didn't finish this one!)

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
(currently reading)

It's purely coincidental that I read two circus books in a row.  I don't have a big interest in the circus, really!  But I have to say that Water for Elephants is my current "summer favorite" so far.  I loved that book.  But be warned: there's some language, which I can usually handle, but in this one there is a fair amount of using the name of Jesus as a curse word and that just makes me queasy.  There is also a smattering of sexual content that in my opinion, is more detailed than it needs to be.  But the scenes are short, and there are only a few.  OTHER THAN THAT, the story and characters are so engrossing...I actually felt sad that it had to come to an end.  And speaking of the end: one of my favorite endings ever.

My other favorite book this summer has been Radical.   But it totally deserves its own post.  I'll do that someday soon.

So...what are YOU reading this summer? 

Downstairs progress: Inspiration Rooms

When I re-decorate a room, I like to do what they did on a show called "Design on a Dime."  (Is that still on?  I have no time for HGTV these days.  Well, except for Design Star, but that's on at night.)  ANYWAY.  On this show, they would have an "inspiration room," which was a photo of a high-end, expensive room - and then they would duplicate it in their own house with similar, more affordable things.

I'm no interior designer.  I can't just look at a room and dream up beautiful things to do to it.  But (I'd like to think) I can execute the ideas fairly well.  So I love the whole "inspiration room" thing. 

I had an inspiration room for our bedroom...

photo source

that turned into this (still a work in progress)...

....hmm.  Now I actually feel kind of lame.  Well, in my defense, our room is tiny - about 10.5' x 11'.  I kid you not.  Tiny.  Aren't old houses "charming?"  But still, there's no excuse for the bare wall behind the bed - gotta do something about that, it would look so much more finished....

MOVING ON!

In my search for a nice color palette for the downstairs, I found this room in a BHG photo gallery and fell in love with it:

photo source

Ahhh.  Isn't this beautiful?  So fresh and light.  I love those gray-ish walls with the green and brown.  This became my inspiration room, love at first sight.

First things first, I painted our walls.  I went with a neutral light gray, called "Gentle Rain" by Behr.  What a breath of fresh air!  The previous color was this yellow-ish, caramelly color that had been there for quite a few years.

before - old color

after - new color

 Vive la difference...

So that was that for the paint. (I did paint both rooms, if you're wondering!)

Next up was the curtains.  I dubbed the ones in the inspiration photo "the curtains of my dreams."  My mom actually found the specific fabric online - Waverly "One Wish" in Mint Julep.  Herein lay the problem: I needed 12 yards to do both windows.  At Joann's, that fabric is $40 a yard.  That just ain't happening.  Even if we had the sort of budget where $500 for curtains was do-able, I don't think I'd be able to bring myself to actually do it!  At Fabric.com, it's $16 a yard.  Much better...but still not justifiable for me.  That's still $48 a panel...I just can't do it!  Not when there's fabric like this...

...on sale at Joann's for $7.99 a yard.  Normally $20, it goes on sale once a year for 60% off.  It's from the Waverly Modern Essentials line, called "Fun Floret."  So at $100 for all 12 yards...we're not talking "cheap," but we're now finally talking "do-able." 

And how FUN is this beautiful fabric???

radiators under windows...the bane of my existence!

I could not be happier with these curtains!  They are a fun, fresh pattern and color, and they do so much to brighten up these rooms!

It's coming together, but I still have lots to do.  Next up: wall decor. 

Downstairs Redo: The Shape of Things to Come

That title is for all you Losties out there.  Has it really been a month since I've last done anything on here?  Well, I'm a busy lady, what can I say.

One rather important "housekeeping" item: I noticed that when I opened up my own blog today, the post titles were all in the Comic Sans font.  It is very important to me that YOU realize that this is not anything I have done on purpose.  I firmly believe that Comic Sans is pure evil in the form of a font.  It makes me shudder just to look at it when other people use it.  I have no explanation for why it is showing up on my blog...but I didn't want anyone to think less of me.  ;)  We behind the scenes at Pleased as Punch are thinking about maybe doing something about it someday.

*****

OK, with that bit of ridiculousness out of the way...as I mentioned before, I've been busy!  Wanna see?

One day I got really fed up with our downstairs rooms: the family room and the play room, formerly known as the dining room.  We have this bookcase that we've had for years.  Actually, DH built it for me!  At the time, it was built for a specific purpose, which included housing a tv (as you can see).  It worked great for us for a long time.  But over the years, it had come to this:

I could stand it no longer.  With DH's blessing and the assurance that he wouldn't get upset or anything, I took that bookshelf apart, board by 500-pound board, until it was a pile of scrap lumber that now sits in our basement.  We have these three MDF bookshelves that my sister-in-law gave to us before they moved out of town.  They have been sitting up in the spare room, holding books, but not in a pretty way.  We just didn't really have a use for them.  But a light bulb LITERALLY appeared above my head one day!  Literally!  So I hauled those things downstairs (no small task) and butted them up against each other and WOW what a difference.

They look so clean and uniform!  I hardly wanted to put anything in them!  It really makes the room feel like there's more space to move.  All that clutter felt oppressive, almost, and I didn't even realize it until it was gone.  Now listen: I'm not done with the new bookshelves; I did put pretty much everything back on, just to put it somewhere.  For now.  I think it still looks a little cluttered, but so much better than before.  And I do have plans...I'm just waiting for some fun things to come in the mail.  More on that later!  Anyway, here it is at the moment...

And thus, the Changing of the Bookshelf was the little rock that rolled down the hill that started the avalanche. 

One time, DH & I replaced the light/fan/heater fixture in the bathroom, and it turned into a whole big bathroom renovation.  This is what tends to happen.  I think, "my goodness!  That one little thing makes such a nice difference...what else could I change?"  And then I start getting ideas. 

Next up...!