Weather Fail

Here's the thing guys, I usually don't worry about the weather this much.  Or talk about it this much.  But this snow is kicking my tail.  I'm on my fourth snow day today.  Our power went out about 7:45 last night and didn't come back on till around 11 this morning.  That is a long time without power when it's 28 degrees kids.  We added an extra comforter (making it to a grand total of three) to the bed last night and it wasn't too bad.  This morning I woke up to a cold house.  Threw on some Under Armour pants under my yoga pants and a long sleeved t-shirt under my husband's Eddie Bauer sweatshirt before putting on fuzzy boot slippers and my hooded bathrobe.  Then I covered up on the couch with a fleece blanket and a comforter.  While I read my book, I desperately wished for a nice steaming mug of hot chocolate.  But now, after about 15 hours, the power is back on and I am much happier.  

So, with all the nasty weather, my Pinterest project is horribly behind.  I have plans of finishing it by this weekend though.  I got two coats of paint on the table yesterday.  It's already looking way better.  I'm going to do a third coat of grey today before I can start on the top secret second step.  I can't wait to share it!  I also can't wait to get it out of the living room.  Yes, the living room.  When it's too cold to paint furniture outside and you've just installed new kitchen floors, you go to whatever lengths are necessary to get your table painted.  So, for right now the table is sitting on a tarp in the middle of the living room.  Amazing.  

As much as I am looking forward to finishing the table, I am dreading doing the chairs.  I wish it was warm enough to just spray paint them.  I painted these chairs back right after college and it was the most gigantic pain in my neck so I know three coats of grey paint on them isn't going to be a picnic.  So, it may be a hot minute before the whole project gets done, but I have high hopes of getting the table done in the next couple of days.  Keep your fingers crossed!

So much prettier, right?  The legs are a normal size, this is just an awkward angle.  It's hard to take a good picture of a table in the middle of the living room.  I'm getting ready to do coat three right now.  Eek, I'm excited!

How did your guys Pinterest projects go?  I've seen a few and they are amazing!  Anybody want to make a special delivery of a Starbucks peppermint mocha?  I'd love it!  I'm not sure my car is going to make it out of my driveway for a few more days.  I guess I'll settle for a hot chocolate.

Where We Eat

Since our new floor is done, I can't really prolong the inevitable anymore.  Something has to be done about our kitchen table.  Until yesterday, it had never seen the light of day on the internet.  But now that we've seen the true ugliness we can talk about where we eat.

Okay, if we're being honest, this should really be called "Where we pile crap that we're too lazy to put away" but that title is long and cumbersome and not a very attractive description.  Accurate, yes.  Attractive, no.  I'm talking about our kitchen table.  I can honestly say we've used it twice in the past two years we've lived in our house.  Both of those times, it was my mom and me.  Apparently grown up ladies eat lunch at the table, not at the coffee table in front of the TV.  Who knew.  Okay, actually I know better, but we like to watch TV while we eat.

Here's the thing.  Our kitchen table is ugly.  I mean really ugly.  It was free though.  Someone gave it to my parents years ago.  Then, when I needed a kitchen table after college it got passed on to me.  And it was free so I took it.  Even though it was ugly.  I don't have a picture of the table in its original state.  It was all wood.  Ish.  The table top is wood look Formica.  Super attractive.  That means I keep a table cloth on it all the time to hide the ugly.  And it just becomes a dumping ground for everything.  I feel like it was actually attractive it might not get so piled.

When I originally got the table, I painted the legs and the chairs burgundy.  It was back in the days of the pink couch, so it matched.  Now that we're moving into a new era of decorating, it doesn't match.  And really, a burgundy table in a red kitchen is a little too much.

So, here's what I've come up with.  After lots of googling, like a good little blogger, I think I can paint the Formica.   And today I'm home on a snow day, again.  And this is the wet snow that sticks to everything.  I'm so over winter.  Bring on the sunshine and flip flops.  Anyway, let's see a picture of my table.

It's just too much.  So I think the plan is to paint it a nice dove grey.  I picked up a quart yesterday morning. And if I don't like it, it was only like $8 so nothing really lost.  We'll see how it goes.

Please tell me the weather is better in your guys neighborhood.  I'm trying to enjoy my snow day, it just looks too darn cold outside.  I'm going to have to find the motivation to get out from under my blanket so that I can paint.  You can't paint from under a blanket.  So, tell me what your guys kitchen tables look like.  Anybody else keep repainting theirs?

Long Time Gone

It's been a long time coming.  A really long time.  Our new kitchen floors are 95% done.  We still need to do the quarter round and put the vent covers back on.  And by we, I mean my dad and my husband.  They are amazing and laid the whole kitchen floor.  Like everything in our house, it took way longer than we had imagined.  They worked for at least eight hours yesterday and got about half of the floor done.  Part of the problem was all of the angles in the bay window.  The other problem was the fact that the boards wouldn't stay clicked together.  Arg.  But in the end, it was totally worth it.  To me anyway, my mom and I hung out and watched movies while the guys worked.

Before I can show off my pretty new floor, I need to show you guys how truly bad it was.  The floor was super stained, there were paint splatters and just general gunk I couldn't get off despite my best efforts.  I had mopped that bad boy on my hands and knees with a rag and a bucket with no success.  I had tried paint thinner to get the paint spots up.  No luck.  It was terrible.  And super embarrassing when anybody came over.

That line down the right side of the picture, that's the seam in the linoleum.  Awesome.

The floor is peeling up around all the edges because they never put quarter round down.  Awesome.

Our filthy looking floor.  How many paint spots can you count?  And believe it or not, this is just after it's been mopped.  That's just plain embarrassing!

Now that I'm thoroughly mortified because I showed you our nasty floor up close and personal I can show you my pretty new floor.  I think you'll agree it was worth all my dad & husband's hard work.  Last night when it was half done I told my mom I wanted to lay in the middle of the new floor and tell it how much I love it.  I resisted, I didn't want to do anything to screw up the floor before it was done.

The floor as it was last night.  Those are my dad's feet.  I was instructed to take no actual pictures of him or my husband.  Apparently laying floor makes one feel especially un-photogenic.

Hello pretty new floor, I know we're going to be best friends.

Man, that's just gorgeous.

A true before and after.  Isn't that a thousand times better?  Ignore the pile of stuff you can see in the front hallway, I had packed a blizzard bag just in case I couldn't get home from work.  Apparently the front hall is an appropriate place to dump it so that I can take pictures of my pretty floor.

What have you guys been up to?  Anybody else con the men in their lives into tackling major projects over the weekend?  Our living room and hallway are next on the list, they're getting the same flooring.  I picked up a quart of paint for a potential snow day project for tomorrow.  My Pinterest Challenge project may not happen on time thanks to the snow that's in the forecast.  I tried to buy some craft supplies this morning, shockingly there wasn't anyone at the fabric counter at Walmart at seven this morning on my way to work.  Sigh.  That's why I got paint.  Are you guys participating in the Pinterest Challenge over at YHL?  Wanna tell me what you're making so I can live vicariously through you?  Pretty please?!

Trapped

I love snow days.  I loved them when I was a kid.  The perfect excuse to stay home, watch movies, and curl up on the couch in sweats with a cozy blanket and a mug of hot chocolate.  Turns out they are equally as great as an adult.  This is a serious perk of working for the public school system.  When the weather is terrible, we get to stay home.  My grown up snow days aren't too much different than those of my childhood.  Today I have to clean the house though.

While I'm staring out at about a foot of snow, I'm wishing I had made a trip to the craft store on Wednesday.  Really wishing.  I'm planning on participating in the YHL Winter Pinterest Challenge.  If I had gone to the craft store, I could be working on something.  Instead, I'm going to clean in preparation for my parents visit this weekend and the new floor installation.  Totally worth it though.

So, before I get to the house cleaning, some pictures from my front door.  Okay, not really from my front door.  But, definitely from the window.  It's too cold to go out and take pictures.  I may toughen up and go out and shovel the end of the driveway that the snow plow covered up.  Not shoveling the whole driveway or anything else for that matter though.  Our driveway is waaaaay too long to shovel.

My car, covered in snow.  And pretty much surrounded.  I may not go anywhere until after spring.  My husband had already cleared my car off once...  We got a couple more inches of snow after that.

Our front yard.  This shrub cracks me up.  I'm not sure why, but it does.  I think I like that the bottom branches are actually in the snow.

The deck is covered.  The pond is frozen.  And our dog is in love with the snow.  I wish I could take a picture of him in the snow but he's way too excited by it to sit still.

Off to be a responsible adult.  Do you work in a job where you get to stay home in bad weather?  What do you love to do on snow days?  Anybody else buried under a foot of snow?  I live in the midwest, I'm not used to this garbage.  I should be, we get it occasionally, but I am not a fan.

DIY Mirror Frame

It's been a crazy week.  I've been coordinating tests at work this week which is always tons of work.  That means not much energy for projects when I get home.  But, today we got a snow day.  Right now I'm looking at out at about eight inches of snow.  Have I mentioned I hate snow?  I do.  It's okay today because both my husband and I got to stay home from work.  If I have to be out in it, I could totally do without it.

Anyway.  So, with a snow day, I've finally gotten a two month long project done.  Hot dog!  Yup, it's been two months in the making.  The hall bathroom is finally basically done.  I mean I guess technically we started it when we moved in, but that was just a coat of paint.  

In case you forgot, this is what we started out with.  Pretty gross, right.

In December my Dad came and helped us install a new sink.  And we got rid of the crazy extra mirrors.

We got the walls painted.  And then it was just at a stalemate.   I tried to frame the mirror and it was a colossal failure.  I left the pieces of trim we'd cut in the hallway and just hoped it would work out eventually.  Well, today was the day.

A while back I got some balsa wood at JoAnn's and painted it to match the trim.  Today I finally cut it down to size and used my staple gun to attach it to the back of the trim.  That allowed the trim to stand out a little more and have a better surface to stick to the mirror.  I'd tried to use some construction adhesive to put the trim up before.  I am a huge failure with a caulking gun so this time I went a different route.  3M strips and hot glue.  Yup, that's what the best home improvements are made of.  Craft supplies.

Well, guess what?!  It actually worked.  The mirror has trim.  The bathroom is put back together.  And I love it.  Maybe not in the most traditional way, but it's done.  

So, what have you guys been up to?  Anybody else finish a project they've been working on for months?  Or have a love/hate relationship with a caulking gun?  No?  Just me?  Okay.  If it's snowy at your house, I hope you're keeping safe and warm.

Hallway: Step 2

Okay guys, get ready for lots of pictures.  Remember how I said we got lots done over our long weekend, this was one more thing crossed off the list.  One tiny change that made a HUGE difference.  I keep asking myself why we didn't do this sooner.  And it cost nothing.  I had the paint on hand, leftover from all the other tan walls we painted when we bought our house.  So, after a good paint mixing, I was ready to go.

I'm just going to let the pictures do the talking.  Here we go.

The hallway when we bought the house.  And I didn't realize how gross the carpet looked in pictures.  We've had it cleaned and it's much better.  And it's getting replaced soon.

Stupid stupid stripes.  Someone really should've told me no.

Stripes be gone.  I love how it looks now.  Maybe love is too strong of a word, I'm never going to love paneling, but it's so much better than it was!

And now a few more pictures just to show off how much better it is.

We have this weird little nook....  It looks like a "Time Out" spot.  I'm not in love with what I have here, but it works for now.

This is so much better, right?!  I'm completely smitten with the change!

I love how much of a change a couple hours and a red Solo cup full of paint can make.  Yes, I poured my paint in a Red Solo Cup.  Classy.  That's what you do when your paint is in a five gallon bucket.  It works though.

Anybody else making tiny changes that have a huge impact?  Do you guys hate paneling as much as I do?

One Step Closer

We've been hard at work on the house this weekend.  I can't wait to show off all my fun little projects.  And the best part, they're all in preparation for a fantastic project my parents are coming to help with next weekend.  Oh it's going to be great.  Here's a sneak peak before I get to the first project for the weekend.

Yup, new floors!!!!!!  All stacked up in the living room ready to install next weekend.  I cannot wait!  We laid out a few planks on the kitchen floor to get a better picture of how it will look and it's going to be gorgeous.  I want to fast forward to next Sunday!

So, in preparation for the new floors we've been knocking out some little projects.  And cleaning like crazy.  Saturday while my husband was watching basketball I got a little project done to update the hall and move toward the turquoise accents I've been wanting to add.

Okay, this is the wall just to the right of our bathroom door.  I painted this canvas back when we lived in our apartment.  It filled the space okay, the colors just weren't right.  I still like the idea of the flower, I just wanted something a little brighter and more fun.  So, after some turquoise paint (leftover from painting the built ins) this is what you see when you walk down the hall.

So much brighter already.  Just the punch of color that side of the hall needed.  

Okay, so I left the same center on the flower.  And I always hated how uneven the petals looked before so I made a couple of stencils out of a sale ad and just painted right around them.  That way the petals were all the same length and looked a little better.

Next step, paint the bottom of the walls and find the perfect things to hang in my gallery wall.  What did you guys do this weekend?  Anyone else whip up some quick craft projects?  BTW, this one was completely free.  I already had everything on hand.

In the Bag

So, if you've been reading my blog for a while you know that I love accessories.  I mean I really looooove accessories.  So, what better thing to talk about on Valentines than something I love.  Purses and shoes are really my favorite.  Over the summer I cleaned out both of my closets and got rid of 17 pairs of shoes.  A while back my mom was at our house and I pulled out eight purses for her to pick from, she took four.  So, I may have a small problem.

I don't usually spend tons on purses or shoes.  I'm kind of cheap.  And I love a bargain.  So I usually try to find good deals on bags rather than spend much.  However last year when I got my first school counseling job, I decided I deserved a treat.  That meant a "grown up lady" purse.  So today I'm going to show you my pretty pretty purse and share what's in the bag.

This is the Coach Gallery Tote.  And it's fairly perfect.  There's a pocket on the back, I stick random papers in there that I need to hold onto.  There are two pockets inside that perfectly hold my phone and keys.  And the ever important zipper pocket, you know, for tampons and the like.

And what's inside.....

1.  My big walle (Target).  That's got my check book, store reward cards, and the like.

2.  Neutrogena hand cream.  This is a must.  I have a tube in my purse, one in my desk, and one at home.  It's amazing stuff.

3.  A Thirty-One monogrammed bag that holds other little random things.  We'll get to that.

4.  Work keys.  They're color coded because I have a lot.  I painted the top of each key with nail polish to keep them all straight.  Works like a dream.

5.  My phone.  Nothing fancy but it gets the job done.  And I love my zebra print case.  

6.  Gum.  Right now it's Extra Dessert Delights, Strawberry Shortcake flavor.  Yum.

7.  My little wallet  (Coach).  Yup, this matches my purse.  The little wallet holds the cards I use the most.  It easily switches over to my shopping purse (a Coach crossbody, if you're curious)

8.  Real keys.  And a Thirty-One key chain.

In the little zipper bag.  Man, I don't know what I did before I added this bag to my purse.  Wait, yes I do.  I spent a ton of time digging around for chapstick and the like.  

1.  Hand sanitizer.

2.  Bath & Body Works hand sanitizing lotion.  Smells much prettier.

3.  My zipper bag.

4.  Benadryl.  When you have food allergies and outdoor allergies, this is always a must.

5.  Lip gloss.  Both of these are Neutrogena, one's kind of red and the other's kind of pink.  

6.  Hempz lip stuff.  This is amazing.  Even if my lips are super chapped, it almost immediately heals them.  Love it.

7.  Hair tie and bobby pins.  I love these hair ties, they're rubbery and never slip or stretch out.

How do you organize your purse?  Are you a frugal purse buyer or do you like pricier name brands?  Do you switch bags with your outfit or are you in a committed relationship with your bag?  I've been carrying this one for a year and a half and I'm fully committed.

Framed

If you've been around for a while, you know there has been an ongoing, ridiculous process of figuring out what to do with our hallway.  It's too tan.  And it drives me craaaaazy.  I mean, it's more attractive than it was when we bought the house, but it's still not what I want.  So first, let's see where we started.

Paneling.  Always more paneling.  But it got a coat of paint and it was much better.  Sort of.  I thought it would be cute to leave the seams in the paneling black so the bottom of the wall was striped.  Turned out that was a bad idea.  That for sure is getting repainted so that the whole bottom of the wall is a solid color.  The wood chair rail is staying how it is.  I like that.  So, let's see what we have right now.

Okay, like I said, I'm painting the seams.  Because they look ridiculous.  I can't believe I've left it that way for so long.  I think that's going to happen this weekend.  We're getting our new flooring soon so I feel like I need to commit to something before we get the floors in.  I don't want to paint walls with new floors.

First, these two stupid problems have to be addressed.

1.  The thermostat.  I'm pretty sure that's the original thermostat.  Super attractive, right?  I think we probably need to replace it for a new thermostat, like a digital one so that it's more efficient.  Then I saw this on Pinterest and thought it was clever and could definitely dress it up a little.

(source)

2.  That is the switch for the attic fan.  An attic fan which is not even hooked up to power.  Call me crazy, but I think an attic fan on a gravel road is a terrible idea.  I'm all for fresh air and everything but I don't want to intentionally pull outside dirt into my house.  I think the solution for this crazy thing is to at least pull the knob off, that way I can hang something big on that wall to cover it up.

I like the print at the end of the hall.  It's from my husband's parents house.  And there's a canvas on the left side of the hall I made.  It's just painted tan with a huge flower on it.  On the right side of the hall is one of our wedding pictures in a floating frame.  So I like what we have on the walls, I just think it could somehow be better.

That's when an idea came to me this morning.  I don't need to paint the walls.  Well, other than getting rid of my stupid stripes.  I just need to bring more color in on the top of the walls, but in a different way.  I'm thinking some sort of gallery wall.  Here's the thing about gallery walls.  My mom had one in her hallway at our old house.  It was fine.  I want something a little different than the wall of my childhood.  And I know I can't do a gallery on both sides down the whole hall, that would be insane.  

So, here's what I'm thinking.  A good mix of big and small pieces.  Maybe just on the right side of the hall.  On the right side, frame the thermostat with a fancy little frame and repaint the canvas on the left so that it matches better (right now the flower is burgundy).  And then do a gallery wall on the right side of the hall.  And use all turquoise frames.  Something like this....

(source)

(source)

I couldn't find the actual link for the second one.  I just linked back to the blog.  Sorry guys, I tried!  I think both of these are gorgeous though.  And I love the variety in them.  But that they also very much go together.  I'm actually getting pretty excited about this project.  Hopefully it's the right way to add color and quit driving me crazy.

So, how about you guys?  Where do you stand on gallery walls?  How do you decorate your hallway?  Anyone else being driven insane by an inability to make decisions?

Oh Yum!

It's not very often that I share recipes.  You all can Google and search Pinterest as well as I can.  But last night when I was still going on about how delicious this was two hours after I ate it, I knew I had to share it.  I seriously think this is the best soup I have ever made.  It's possible I'm even still thinking about how delicious it is.  And it's healthy.  What?  That could be why I am so in love with it.  Healthy and incredibly delicious?  That's really not always a common combination. 

I'm trying super hard to eat healthier and this definitely fit the bill.  It comes in around 300 calories for a good sized serving and it is so filling.  Like I had a bowl of this soup and a glass of milk for dinner last night and was completely satisfied with my dinner.  Obviously, if I was still bragging about how good it was two hours later. 

So, I'm going to give you the recipe.  It's not my own.  I found it on Pinterest.  If I had realized it was going to be so delicious I would've taken more pictures while I was actually making it.  I didn't have high hopes though, so I didn't.  I've had a series of Pinterest recipe fails.  But believe me, you want to try this one.  The original recipe came from here.  I made a few tweaks just for personal taste.  I don't think any of them really changed the nutritional value.

Creamy Taco Soup

3/4 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
1 15-oz can 50% less sodium white beans, rinsed and drained
1 15-oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 4-oz can diced green chilies
1 15-oz can diced tomatoes  diced tomatoes with chilies
1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 cup frozen or fresh corn
1 1/2 pounds shredded precooked chicken breast
2 tbsp fresh squeezed lime
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tbsp dried cilantro
2 tsp Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime Seasoning Blend one that sounds like it would work with tacos/Mexican food

1/ Place 1/2 cup broth and white beans in a blender and puree. Add yogurt and blend again. Pour liquid into slow cooker.

2/ Add remaining ingredients and stir well.

3/ Cover and cook on high for 2 hours or on low for 4-5 hours.

So, the first great thing about this is it's entirely done in the slow cooker.  That means you can throw it in before you go to work and have an amazingly delicious dinner ready for you when you get home.  I of course didn't do it that way though.  I threw 4 frozen chicken breasts in the crock pot and poured in enough chicken broth to cover them.  I let them cook all day on low.  When I got home from work, I pulled out the chicken and shredded it.  I dumped the chicken broth from cooking out because I'm grossed out by the little slimy bits from cooking chicken.  Anyway.  Then everything else went into the crockpot.  I used the remaining 1/2 cup of chicken broth (the other half went in the blender with the white beans and Greek yogurt) to rinse the blender out so that I got all that good creaminess into the pot.  

I didn't use the specific kind of Mrs. Dash that the recipe called for because my grocery store didn't carry it.  I just picked a Mexican food sounding one.   I did have to buy a lot of the spices because I didn't have them on hand but now I have them and I can totally use them to make homemade taco seasoning too.

I was honestly kind of doubtful about the Greek yogurt flavor and the creaminess of the soup.  I'm kind of behind, I had never used Greek yogurt to cook before.  Um, hello, it was delicious!  And I think it would be really easy to adapt this to be vegetarian if that's what you like.  Just substitute the chicken broth with veggie broth and toss some extra vegetables or tofu in.

I know, the slow cooker looks messy, that just means it's going to be delicious.  Seriously, make this for dinner this week.  You will totally thank me.

Have you tried any Pinterest recipes lately?  Were they delicious or terrible?  Maybe nobody else has such a bad track record with Pinterest recipes, maybe this soup broke my streak of bad luck.   

For Your Valentine

Like I've said before, I'm totally susceptible to peer pressure.  If somebody else does something cool, I'm pretty sure I need to do it too.  I know, I'm a grown up, get over it.  It's not bad things though.  Just you know, fun, silly things that don't hurt anybody.  So, today I'm jumping on the bus and bringing you my Valentine Gift Guide.  It's pretty much just a little list of stuff I would love to receive.  It's fairly general stuff that I feel like many other people would also enjoy getting as a sweet little gift.  So, here we go.

 

And let's break it down....

1.  Pistol Annies, Hell on Heels.  You can go buy it here.  Or anywhere else, I'm not the boss of you.  I just love to buy things online and have them magically appear at my door. I love Miranda Lambert, I love the Pistol Annies.  I'm not sure why I don't own this CD already.  I'm hoping my husband remembers I desperately want it.

2-4.  Pandora charms.  I would love a couple more to add to my bracelet.  And it's not quite the traditional Valentines jewelry present.  A gold heart, a silver heart, and a football.  Something sweet and something fun.  But none of the creepy stories like the commercial with the Red Hot Love bead.   Ug.  Not cool guys.  My Pandora bracelet is from Jared.  And I can always say "He went to Jared"

5.  Okay, this is more of a date night thing.  My husband always buys me a book for Christmas.  And he always does amazingly well.  This year he bought me Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks.  He said he regretted buying it because it's getting ready to come out as a movie too and he knew I would make him go see it.  I told him no it was okay.  But now I totally want to go see it.  So, if you or your sweetie likes chick flicks, go see Safe Haven for Valentines.

6-7.  Apparently I really need a leopard print scarf.  Animal print is my new(ish) addiction.  I pinned both a black and a brown leopard print scarf in a matter of weeks.  And scarves are always great in the winter.  Good for keeping you warm and great for making shirts with a low neckline a little more work appropriate.

8.  A manicure.  I looooove getting my nails done.  But I'm super cheap and am rarely willing to pay someone to actually do my nails for me.  So I would love a gift certificate to a nail salon for a little pampering.

Here's the thing though guys, we don't do Valentines gifts at our house.  I'm not really that into it.  We will go to dinner and maybe a movie.  But not on Valentines.  Probably some time over the weekend because we both have a three-day weekend right after Valentines.  So, what do you and your honey do for Valentines?  Do you buy gifts?  Does he bring you chocolates and flowers?  Or do you do the non-traditional route like us and do a date day some other time?

Must be Magic

It finally happened.  I may have done a little dance.  Last night we got the dresser moved into place, the TV put on top, and all the cords threaded through the holes we cut in the back so that we could put the DVR and Blu Ray player inside.  Amazing! 

And I learned an important lesson.  I do not work well with others.  I've done projects by myself for so long that I am always sure I'm right.  Oops.  Last night I just had to tell myself to shut up and let my sweet hubby, who was helping me instead of watching basketball, figure out how to run all the cables.  I am clueless when it comes to setting up electronics.  We got it done though.  And we still like each other.  And the living room looks amazing.  It's possible I walk in there just to admire our work.

Before we get to pictures, let's do a cost breakdown.  It was so cheap guy, I totally can't believe it.
Dresser  $30
Paint, 2 quarts $20  (and I still have more than half of each left to be used for other things)
Hardware $18  (with two drawer pulls left)
Shelf Board $14 (there's a piece of that left too)
Grand total for a spiffy TV console:  $82
Not too shabby!  Still much cheaper than anything I would've bought.  And it matches our living room perfectly since I painted it myself.  And it has tons of storage space.  That hideous shelf that used to sit by the TV is now sitting in the kitchen waiting to be carried to the basement.  And the coffee table is back where it belongs.

Remember, this is what we started with.  I think it was totally worth my $30..Those legs remind me of Beauty and the Beast.  I don't know why.  They just do.  This is fairly normal for me and furniture.

And this is what we were living with.  The TV on our coffee table.  Ridiculous.

And here she is now.  Please excuse the fact that we were watching basketball when I took pictures.  It was the end of the Mizzou game.  It couldn't be helped.

It's not in the exact spot I want it, but it will work for now.  We're getting new floors soon(ish) so I decided I could live with it there for now. 

Oh, I just love it so much!  I can't wait to load the drawers up with CDs and movies.  And re-alphabetize.  My CDs have become a total mess.  And I love things to be in alphabetical order, it's my favorite.  Where do you store your movies and music?  Do you have a certain organizational system?

Peer Pressure

Okay, maybe not peer pressure, maybe it's more jumping on the bandwagon.  I'm a sucker for link parties.  I wasn't going to participate in the Hey Girl link party because I wanted to save my poor hubby.  But then I started seeing all the clever ones out there and I gave in.  So, to protect him a little, I used pictures that are from a different angle so as to protect his anonymity a bit.

If you want to see more and laugh a little head on over to Two Twenty One, View Along the Way, Domestic Imperfection, Bliss Ranch, or Decor and the Dog.  There's some pretty good stuff.  And we all get to brag on our hubbies.  I threw one of our dog Rowdy in too.  Wishful thinking.

This may have happened this week.  My husband is amazing.

Yup, this happens.  Sometimes instead of fishing.  *We do not hang balloons with any frequency, these were for our wedding.

We may have very recently had conversations about me repainting things.  I think I have an addiction.

 

Said Rowdy never.  But he does like to crawl up in our chairs.

So, did you participate in the Hey Girl link party?  Does your husband watch really chic-y shows with you and never complain?