Always Accessorize!

With the hard work being done on the bathroom, I have been spending time accessorizing! When I worked in retail we were required to wear three clothing pieces and at least two accessories every time we worked and now I started carrying this philosophy into decorating a house! Like earrings, a great belt, or necklace- this is just adding the little details to make the space sparkle- literally and figuratively!

So this is the time of year to find good stuff at garage sales for way cheap. And so far, mostly every accessory for this bathroom has come from garage sales. I love that! It helps leave room in the budget for the perfect but more costly pieces (like the rug you will see!- so perfect but wow-Target is getting pricey!)

Here are some of the fun additions!

Fabric shade for the window! 

Rug I found at Target! So perfect together! Say Hello to Teter!

 And these are my garage sale finds totaling  whole $2!

Shelf was bright yellow and painted it white. I must add that the best part of painting this shelf was the fact that my Dad left his electronic sander behind for me! I've been asking for one for months now!!!

Vase was one of two I got for $1. Still has the Crate and Barrel tag on it!

And the vanity got the pair vase and a super cool soap pump from Target!

And of course that mirror is an accessory!

I chose hooks for towels rather than a bar.

And, there you have it! Accessories..... part 1! 

And my next project.... learning to paint furniture with spray paint! 

An old secretary desk, (may) become new again! Stay tuned!

Bathroom Redo Part #2

The bathroom project continues on. After we finished painting and paneling, next came the vanity. 

First let's refresh your memory about what this piece used to look like...

Not the most glamours piece in the world. 

So out came the counter and sink and down came the mirror. We were lucky that both came out so easily and with no damage to the walls or cabinet. 

After that it was fitting our new top to the cabinet and attaching the new (shiny!) faucet. We did run into some challenges with the under sink pluming trying to align the new pipes to the existing. Thank goodness my Dad was there to cut a small amount of piping to get everything lined up and attached! 

I am good at a lot of things but pluming is a whole other learning curve!

Right on level!

And the lighting went up!

 And whala! A beautiful carved mirror and there you have it! A finished vanity. 

I am very excited with how it turned out! It was a good project within the room and we only had minimal hang ups! Even more important, I learned a lot by doing it with my Dad. 

I do have one tip, the cabinet is the original cabinet built with the house. We learned the front and doors were definitely stainable wood after being sanded down. However, the side was just plastic and would not take the stain. (same with the toekick) So to fix that problem, we went to Home Depot and bought a piece of veneer that could be stained. We fit to to the side of the cabinet and stained it. We put it up with Liquid Nails for wood and a few small nails. When you look at the cabinet now, you cannot even tell the difference between the front and the side!  

Last step of the project is my favorite! Accessories! 

9 months up.... 9 months down.

It's official. Connor is 9 months old and its been 9 months without being pregnant. Seems like way longer than that!

So many kind, caring mom's out there shared the 9 months up, 9 months down pregnancy theory (?) with me after having Connor. Meaning it took 9 months to gain all the weight for the baby and give yourself 9 months to get rid of all that weight from the baby. So with my anniversary present and here, it was time to evaluate the weight loss part of 9 months down.

I am very proud to say I am within 5-7 pounds of my pre-baby weight. Given that for the first trimester the only food that sounded good was Taco Bell and McDonalds I would say that's a victory. (and if you know me well, I HATE Taco Bell- can't touch it with a ten foot pole and still today when I my students eat it I gag. But apparently this is not true when I'm pregnant.) And in the process of loosing weight, I've learned to appreciate running, and even have mastered dead lifting. Never in a million years would I have thought I would say those two things positively and in the same sentence!

But my clothes don't fit me like they used to. And that last five pounds is hanging on with a death grip. And I might have the Weiler waistline. Well, I guess I've always had it- but now you can see it. For those of you not (ahem) blessed with this body type let me explain.... it means your short waisted and wide hipped. You look like your tucking your shirt into your bra and everything you wear has an empire waistline whether it's suppose to or not. It's fabulous and all the runway models are dying for it!

There are so many women out there who say to me, "But look at the reason your body has changed!" Yes, I am so grateful for Connor. But why does the statement "I just want my body back" make me feel like a horrible mom? I also would just like to carry a cute purse and not a diaper bag. But as I am learning there are many things that are no longer mine for a while.

I am sure there are other mom's out there that feel the same and differently. All I know is that with all the joys and struggles of pregnancy and being a mom, this is one struggle that is harder to swallow.

Bathroom Redo Part #1

Yes, its true. It was time for our house to say goodbye to the 90's sponge painted wall and hello to something new. If you think I'm joking look below.

Close up of the former bathroom walls. 

More to see. 

Yes, some owner prior to us thought that painting the walls and ceiling tan (which really looks orange) and then sponge painting brown over it was a good idea. And if it was 1996 when our house was built I would say yes, this was a good idea. But there have been owner since then who have had to experience the sponge.

Well I refused to deal with it anymore!

So I put all of my countless hours on Pinterest (seriously, if you have not checked it out, do so and ask me for an invite!) to work.

So far, we've primed and painted. The color I chose of the grey/brown is called Tumbled Stone from Home Depot Behr collection.

I've also decided to do a paneling effect on the bottom of the walls. We measured up 50 inches for the top of our chair rail and are putting 1x2 every 15 inches around the bottom.

P.S. So I have to digress for a minute-- Did you know that 2x4s, 1x2s, and any other lumber beams are not really 1 inch by 2 inches it's rounded up and down! So a 2x4 is really 1 1/2 inches by 3 1/2 inches. Whoever came up with that is stupid in my opinion. Really?!

Here's some of the work in progress:

Primer on the walls- bye bye sponge!

Staining the existing cabinet walnut.

Paneling effect

And I'm super excited about my DIY roman shade that I found here. I already made it- took my about 45 minutes and it works great and looks great! Pictures to come. 

(I definitely think there are more roman shades in our future!)

Fabric for the shade- the grey/brown flower is the color for the top of the walls. 

I have to give a shout out and a thanks to my Dad, Steve Dinise, who has helped a ton on all of this. He knows way more and is so good at this stuff. I'm so thankful to be learning from him. 

Up next is removing the old counter top and sink. This I cannot wait for! More pictures to come!

Growing Up...

Many of you saw my facebook status a few weeks ago...
"having a mommy moment... daycare wants to move Connor out of the infants room, he's feeding himself, and starting a sippy cup... where did my baby boy go!"

I cannot believe how fast Connor is growing! This picture was taken when he was 7months and I feel like that was ages ago. 


From this picture he's:

• gained two more teeth! (and cutting another!)
• crawled
• crawled upstairs
• pulls himself up on everything!
• moved daycare classrooms to the "walking" classroom
• feeds himself
• learning to drink from a sippy cup
• driven a car

Ok just kidding on the last one, however, it is amazing to watch him grow every single day! He's become a little person! Like many of your comments out there, you can relate to how fast they grow. 


We have friends who are adopting a baby from Ethiopia and in talking with them an interesting statement was made. They shared that they will have to parent different from what would be a "typical" raising of a baby. They said that we in america raise our kids to be independent and what we teach them leads to doing things on their own. They shared when you adopt a baby who has been in a over packed orphanage for the first months or years of their lives, you have to raise them to become dependent and trust in you. 


This was such as interesting point for me and hit on some truth. Every time Connor does something that helps advance him to being more of his own person we praise him. Not uncommon for him to hear "Yeah What a Big Boy!" and "Good Job Connor!" We do this because we want him to repeat a good behavior- and in most cases an independent behavior. 


But then we have our what I call, Mommy moments where we just want them to stay babies forever- dependent on us. Wow! Gives truth to the saying, whoever thought being a parent is easy is nuts! 

Maybe Its Time to Create A Little...

New Wall Color

So you could say I have a new interest, or should I say Pinterest! (if you have not checked out this website you should! It's pages and pages of ideas. I call it my virtual magazine clipping website for images, ideas and inspiration!)

I have been spending way too much time combing the pages and pages of images on this website, getting inspired and thinking.... maybe its time to create again.

I love creating. You name it- i'll try it. But lately, there has not been too much creating going on. (It may be due to work, school, and two cute men in my life) I think that I've just given it up to do other things and now it's coming back around.

I follow a few friends who are amazing at creating and being artists and I get so inspired and excited for them and always think- hey wait I can do that! (deep down- if I wasn't such an extrovert-  I would love to be paid a million dollars to decorate and design my house!)


So I guess I created a lot for Connor's room... and now I am thinking about the rest of the house. Mainly our downstairs, where we spend 90% of our time in our house. I'm finding so really cool ideas and now thinking about ways to put them into our home.

Now I have a way to make these!

One project I'm definitely going to try is this one! All it took was a tablecloth, varnish, and time! And it's perfect for our bedroom, where the dogs spend most of their day because it wipeable!

When I shared this with Joe he said "ummm... do I really want to know?" I say no, just give me a budget and creative freedom, Honey and I promise you will not only have a house but a home to be in with me and a cute little 9 month old!

We're redoing (and updating) one of the bathrooms in our house in the next two weeks. Time to start creating! I love how things come into my life at the right time to remind me of how to create things I love.

Here is a sneak peak of what I hope the place looks like when were done...

Over the window with a roman blind

dark cabinet with white counter and a new mirror

Back from the Land of Orientation

It's true, I have returned from a far away place called Orientation Land. While many school years gear up in September and die down in June, in the land of New Student Orientation, we gear up and stay up from May to September, leaving me in a land far, far away for a while. While I love this magical land I am always happy once mid-July rolls around because its like I emerge and the world is new again.

Professionally, I'm lucky. I am one of the fortunate few who's talents, passion, and job are all the same thing. And this summer I'm even luckier. For two years, I've been building a new program for orientation, including a fabulous leadership position for students, and this summer I ran it- with probably my best student staff ever. (So I have to add this in-- there are some of you reading this from my most favorite staff ever or you are one of my most favorite students ever. This is different than being on my best staff ever. Favorites are irreplaceable.)

How lucky am I? This got me thinking... how many people are working in areas they consider to be their passion or calling in life? This has come up as a leadership topic in a seminar I am participating in this year. I am interested to see, how many people know their passion for life? And how many people are brave enough to follow it?

One of my favorite questions to ask my students is "If you could get paid a million dollars, what would you do?" There answers usually give me a slight peek into their passion for life. I am working on writing more this summer and one thing I would like to do is hear more from the people reading this...

So I ask you, If you could get paid a million dollars to do something, what would you do?