Places we have lived...

I love the idea of having some art to commemorate the places we have lived.  When I saw Jenna's state prints, I fell in love.  I like the modern vibe, fun pops of color, and just a little something different.  I love the work Jenna did for me when she re-designed my blog, so I was thrilled to order from her!

I have had these prints since we were in Boston, and I had been dying to put them up.  I got them into frames while we were staying with the Crows because I just wanted to see them again.

I am not sure that the bold red desk is going to stay red as it doesn't really go with our current color scheme, but for now, I love how it looks with all the bright colors.

Jenna was extra sweet and was willing to create Iraq for us, as I thought it would be fun to see how long people try to figure out which state is on the bottom right...

Illinois, New York, Indiana, Georgia, Massachusetts, and Iraq...

Guest Room

We painted our guest room upstairs a tan color (Behr - Distant Tan).  I was excited to get to use my imperial trellis look-alike duvet that I bought ages ago at Home Goods.  That was the only 'new' piece that went into this room...the rest is stuff that we had used in other rooms before...

Before...

After...

Watercolor by Suta Lee over the Urban Outfitter's upholstered headboard...

Love that donkey tail succulent...

I am really digging the gallery walls lately...I need to update this picture because I finally located the white porcelain keys that belong in the black frame...

A great tailgating idea...

So, the Crows and some friends put on the best tailgate this past weekend.  Picture perfect weather, just the right amount of food for 75+ adults and 40+ kids, great company, cocktails, etc. 

Krissy is such an effortless gourmet cook, so she had this idea to do a waffle bar.  At first, I thought...oh my.  That's going to require a lot of work, manning of the irons, not fun.  But, Krissy, in all her infinite wisdom, figured out that we could just pour the mix into plastic cups and let everyone do their own.  PERFECT.  We knew that some batter would be wasted this way, but we think this was the only way to successfully pull this off.  They had bought two huge boxes of Pancake mix at BJ's, we just had to add water, mix and get into the cups.  Krissy made some yummy sauces to top the waffles, and the lines never slowed down for people waiting to make a delicious waffle.

Sorry I was a doubter, Krissy - GREAT idea.  If any of you are planning breakfast tailgates, you should give this a try.  A couple of tips...


1.  Keep a trash can right next to the station as the cups are a little messy after pouring the mix onto the irons.
2.  Be prepared for spillage...just make sure to plan accordingly with your tablecloth/table, etc.
3.  We had four irons to begin with, but they were blowing fuses, even though they were on a power strip.  So, you may want to have them running from a couple of different outlets.

The station, complete with irons, batter, whipped cream, syrup, non-stick spray for irons, and fruit sauces...

A tray like this one was PERFECT for transporting batch after batch outside...

The tasty sauces...with Army labels ;)

Guest Bath

Most of the colors I selected for our house are pretty neutral, so I really wanted to go bold with at least one room.  I have been wanting a really dark room for a while, so I decided to go for navy (Behr Peaceful Night).  I am so thrilled with how it turned out...it definitely makes me want to try a larger dark room next time.
I had won a Syroco Federal mirror on eBay, and I wasn't sure where I was going to put it yet.  While I was chatting with Sommer, she said, you know, a gold sunburst mirror would look really cool against the navy.  BINGO!  Perfect place for my eBay find...thanks, Sommer!

It is a long and narrow bathroom...hard to get good pics...

I also spent way too much time seeking out perfect shower curtains.  I wanted something for this bathroom that was just sort of fun/whimsical for Paddy, and not too themed.  I bought a $10 white curtain from Target, tiny bits of fabric from WalMart, and I made this one...

In between the towel rods, I needed something for the wall.  I stumbled across these 2 pages of scrapbook paper that I had purchased a while back, and I threw them into some Ikea frames.

Finally, oak cabinets are a theme in all the rooms, so I have just stuck with using white accessories in all locations...

Our House, Take One.

Hello out there...I have fallen off the face of the blogging world again...I seem to do this from time to time.  We are moving in and feeling pretty settled...having visitors right away and Paddy's big Baptism to plan for were wonderful motivation to get done.  There are still lots of ongoing projects and dreams that I have, so I guess I will document those along the way.

We are loving being here at West Point...it is such a breathtaking, peaceful, Mayberry-like place.  One of my new friends is really into photography, so I am hoping she can help me improve while we are here.  I would love to capture some of the beauty of this place.

I have started taking a few pictures of what we have done to the house so far, so I will share as we go. 

I just risked my life to get this picture of our outdoor light - we have an obscene amount of acorns falling - we are all just waiting to get pummeled in the head or realize that we have dents in our cars.  Back to the light...it is one of my favorite parts of the house...isn't it charming?

Toy Storage, Part Two...

I blogged about laundry cart bins awhile ago, and they have been creeping back into my mind lately....perhaps good toy storage?

RH Version...

Cheaper version...they have elevated versions, too!

Balcony with a view...

So, in Mexico, this is the view that my brother and sister-in-law have from their balcony...are you as jealous as I am?

They have a cool, modern condo that couldn't get any closer to the ocean.  They were trying to figure out how they are going to set up the balcony.  Their requirements were that the space has to be good for relaxing, entertaining and maybe growing some plants/herbs. They didn't want too much or too bulky of furniture, and if the pieces could be stackable for easy storage, even better.

view from inside...

the balcony is not a rectangle, but more of a trapezoid?!  Ry - is that the right term?

I put together some initial thoughts for them, and they found some pieces that they liked, but due to a time crunch with the move and slow shipping times from stores, they are going to furnish this once they get settled in. They have agreed to do an 'after' post for us...can't wait!

1.  Maybe a fun side table? ( I found one of these in Newburyport, and I am kicking myself for not buying it...it was only $65.  I am sure one of these could be found cheaper.)
Amazon - Elephant Side Table Ceramic
$179
2.  Ikea
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20147713
$49.99
3.  Modern Funiture - $995
4.  My personal favorite - CB2 - Igloo Chair - $149
5.  I think an outdoor rug would be a great way to bring in some color/design interest.  If you wanted something contemporary, I liked the black/ivory one.
Home Infatuation - $89.99
6.  A small side table may be nice depending on the configuration of the balcony
Urban Outfitters - *on sale - $19.99
7.  Good deal...
Target - $94
8.  CB2 - Eddy Round Outdoor table - $179
9.  CB2 - Rex Grey armchair (goes well with Eddy table from CB2) - $69.95
10.  CB2 - metropolitan chair - $139
11.  Outdoor Rug (I think this one would hide a lot of dirt/sins) - 42'' x 66'' $124.95
12. Outdoor Rug (learned about this from Sommer's blog - and it's a great deal!)
Frontgate - 3'9" x 5'5" - $60


My favorite pick is the igloo chair from CB2.  I would like a couple of these for our backyard.  Add to the growing wish list...WAIT...they are not available anymore...that is sad.  And, they don't get very good reviews...

My favorite plant idea is one that I saw on Oh Happy Day a few weeks ago...I still can't get enough of succulents! 

But, they wanted some herbs, so Ryan was looking into building some sort of frame to hang pots on...I am sure it will be genius, whatever he comes up with.

Stay tuned....

Keys

We get keys to our new house on Monday afternoon at 4pm.  That is 1 day and 29 minutes and....just kidding.  But that IS how antsy I am about it.  This will be the 18th time we have moved around since we left our house in Boston.  As Mark put it, we have pretty much been without a home for a quarter of a year.  That's a long time for a girl who loves 'home'.

We feel so blessed to have had such a fun summer, staying with family and friends, traveling, and realizing that we don't need all that much stuff (although, we are to the point now where we can't wait to see some of our 'stuff'!). 

Thank you to all of our dear friends and family who have put up with us and all that we bring along.  Please know that you all have an open invitation at our house, anytime.  We can't thank you enough.

So...now, let the race begin...just how quickly can I get settled and decorate?

 This isn't our house, but looks just like it.  We will be in an end unit...

Toy Storage

How do you stow away toys?  I haven't had to broach too much of this topic yet because when we left our house back in May, Paddy was still totally entertained by a few toys and his exersaucer.  However, those days seem to be over.  So, I have been hoping to find some lockers that I could paint a fun color to help corral toys. 

There are lots on craigslist; however, I just haven't decided the final style/shape that I want yet.

An inspiration pic from the nursery - can't remember where I found this one...

If I really let myself dream, I would want a bank of old swim lockers.  While we were in Boston, there was a guy I was corresponding with about free lockers who said that they also had tons of swim lockers.  As you can imagine, I am just kicking myself for not picking some up and figuring out how to store them. (I am sure Sean would disagree with this statement :))

Mine aren't nearly as cute as Jenny's...

So, I attempted Jenny's roman shades made from mini blinds with some of the $1 panels I recently acquired and some miniblinds from WalMart ($7.50 each).  I bought 4 matching gray panels, but we have three windows in the master bedroom, so I figured this would be a good way to use the panels and still cover all the windows.  Needless to say, mine aren't nearly as adorable as hers were :)

plain jane shade from Walmart!

snipping all the blind supports...

these are the only slats left on that whole blind!

The Fabritac that still looks wet, even though it is dry! UGH.

my unfinished top...

my unfinished bottom...

First of all, this was my first time using Fabric glue...so, I guess I used too much maybe because the glue came through the fabric.  I thought when it dried, you might not be able to notice, but it still has that 'wet glue' look.  BOO.

In typical Meghan DIY fashion, I want to be a perfectionist, but I can't really figure out every last little step to make it look polished and perfect, like Jenny's.  Because of my lack of patience,  I need to still finish off the tops as well as the bottoms.  I may resort to using safety pins to finish up the bottoms....yikes.  I was a bit unclear on that part of the directions...

I contemplated buying trim, but then I would probably quickly defeat this inexpensive DIY (3 windows for under $30). 

So, these will probably just need to be less than perfect roman shades!  I will post a better picture once I get them up in the room...