a YAY! a big hairy ARRRGHH and a YAY!

YAY....guest room #2 is done and ready to receive my visitors. Vacuumed , dusted, put the ironed sheets on the bed, and added some chocolate on the bedside table. Now I only have 5000 more things to do before they get here. For those of you from RMS ... I know I know...you've seen this room before. Sorry to be so boring.




ARGGGH...This whole "finish the bath" thing has spun out of control! I came up with what I thought was a brilliant idea for a "faux shower curtain" ...but lets just say there's a hitch-in-it's-get-along. When my hubby gets home and sees all the holes I made in the sheetrock....he's gonna put a hole in my head!! Hopefully everything will be resolved tomorrow, if he lets me live, (pray for me)... and I'll be able to show ya how it looks. I was able to finish a CHEAP wall decor project for the bath. I can't remember whose beautiful blog I stole this idea from (I'm old what can I say). But she has these WONDERFUL pictures of vintage bathing beauties in her heading. I fell head over heels in love with them....but I'm too cheap to buy the real thing. So I did the next best (free) thing. I printed out some pictures from my computer...mounted them to scrapbook paper...and TADA...cheap art. Here's a peek at the ONLY part of that room that worked out for me today.



And the final YAY...Justine from Justine's Froggy Bloggy gave me this really cool award. I was so tickled to get it. You have to go over to Justine's blog...she is so funny and so real! She tells it like it is and it's always fun to visit there.
I really appreciate the award Justine...thanks again!

* A HAPPY ENDING *

I think I broke a land speed record coming home tonight. I was so excited to see if they were able to finish our patio. It was raining pretty hard today so I was worried that they wouldn't have even shown up. And now .... I'm really sorry I called them "Girlie Men" I take it back guys...you are Big Glorious Beef Cakes of Brick Laying love!

I'm gonna have some extra landscaping to do...they were nice enough to level this out with some extra dirt, seeded it, and covered it with straw. But there are some holes now that will need some planting come spring. But over all we are really pleased. I just wish it hadn't been raining so I could sit out and enjoy it for awhile.

I finally finished the last of my preparations for one of the guest bedrooms. It is now officially ready to be occupied by my wonderful mom. I got the yellow cabinet painted and properly distressed and I added a new lamp. I'm pretty okay with how everything looks. I'd like to do some more tweaking but this is as good as it's gonna get for now. (click on the picture and check out that lamp) got it at Home Goods and it's really cute!

One of these days I'll tone down that "too yellow" paint...but dang I REALLY hate painting! I keep hoping that as I get older and my eye sight fails...I won't notice the BLARING yellow!

If you're wondering what the large blob under the quilt in the corner is.....It's the putrid crunchy chair from Hell. Yes I said "crunchy" the fabric is so old that it makes a crunchy sound when you sit on it. It belonged to my hubby from his bachelor days. It's actually the only thing left from that prehistoric period...well except for his 20 year old alarm clock. One day I'm gonna find the perfect chair for that spot...until then ...this monstrosity remains shrouded.

Finally I'd like to thank Jeanne from Backyard Neighbor for giving me this award. I've received it before...but I'll be happy to take it again! Thanks Jeanne. I really enjoy your blog and love having you come over to visit. Everyone go over to her place and say "hi" !

And many thanks to Carol from Charli and me for this awesome award! Carol has an adorable dog named...what else...Charli. Ya gotta go to her blog and take a look at that yummy little furball.

This award is for dog lovers. And I'd like to pass it on to some of my dog loving friends. Kyley at "Crazy Kyley" ........ Sheila at "Note Songs"......Tracey at "I am Me"....and Rhonda at "Scooter Blu's Whimsy" Go meet their adorable and loveable furry friends!

~~~ SURPRISE ! ~~~~

This morning I was rudely awakened by barking dogs. Now it's not like this has never happened before. But it is definitely not our normal pattern. Usually my wake up call comes as incessant pawing on any reachable body part. This ceremonial pawing ritual generally results in toe nail furrows carved into my flesh, which results in me dragging my butt out of bed to take the offending flesh carver out to do his business. But this morning the routine was suspiciously altered. When the barking reached a crescendo I fell out of bed and shuffled over to the window..........

OH BE STILL MY HEART...could it be? Could it actually be our long awaited Landscapers? The guys we hired 4 months ago and have been waiting for ever since! I pinched myself to see if I was still asleep...and then looked again..... OH Glory day! Those dump truck drivin' dudes are coming up my driveway!! HOORAY!! In mid leap ... my blogmind kicked in .. and I about had a cow....WAIT A MINUTE I NEED A BEFORE PICTURE!!! I scampered like my butt was on fire, trying to get to my camera. AWWWW BAT CRAP I'm in my pajamas. I'm pretty sure if I run outside in this getup...waving a camera around...those boys are gonna hit the gas and leave my property faster than they can speed dial 911 and report a lunatic sighting! So I scramble into jeans and a t-shirt and scuttle down the stairs. Forget about make-up or hair combing...this is a blog emergency!

Whew....I GOT IT...the BEFORE SHOT.... You will notice this failed attempt at a patio. We wanted an "earthy" look and decided to create one with large pieces of slate. My hubby and I built this abomination last spring. It didn't take long before we realized there was a reason we didn't "hard scape" for a living. So hence the hiring of professionals!

Oh gee....lets all wave BYE BYE to this hideous excuse for a patio. I watch it dismantled without a single tear in my eye! WOOT WOOT! Here comes the big guns!
At this point I'm pretty sure these guys are thinking..."If this camera obsessed woman is gonna sit here and take pictures of us all day...the price is GOING UP!"

Because my budget could not absorb a price increase for the "annoyance factor" I scramble back inside. Of course...I run upstairs to gawk at them out the window...hey they don't get off that easy! And ya know the two Busybodies had to keep track of the doings too!

Look at it....in all it's chocolate brown loveliness....

OOOH go ahead and sweat you big brawny Gods of the dirt....because with every drop of your man sweat I'm that much closer to a REAL patio that doesn't have to be mowed!

Back to window lurking...........

I just want to go on record as saying...the next picture was not snapped because they had their shirts off....REALLY it wasn't!!! The day ends......I would have made them work long into the night and not leave until they were finished!
But the little buggers think they deserve food! And sleep! Sheeesh a bunch of Girlie men!

Just to make sure they come back tomorrow...I'm holding their back hoe and all their tools hostage! The depressing thing is I have to work tomorrow. So not only will I not be here to photograph their progress....but I'm gonna have to wait all dang day .... going crazy....before I can come home and see the end result. One things for sure....It's gonna be waaaay better than the way it was!

GO AHEAD....MOCK ME !

I had to work today. So let's just say not a lot got done. But I did throw together some fall decor for the inside of my home.

Now keep in mind a couple things here. First I've never decorated the inside of my home for fall. Before I found blogland I didn't realize you were even supposed to. I'm amazed at the things you people do...I mean come on....who has matching plates enough to feed 8 people??? Center pieces??? Umm....in my house we call that "food". There are days my self esteem would be in the toilet (and not a clean one I might add) if it weren't for this one simple fact. I've decided...that my duty to all of blogland...is to be "THAT WOMAN" ... you know the one...the gal who makes you all feel good about yourselves. The one where you can point and snicker and say to yourself..."I may not be perfect....but at least I'm not HER"! So on that note. I'm going to present to you my valiant attempt on fall decor. And no...none of it is home made, recreated from something and became something else...or will inspire you to hit the "copy to my files" key. Remember now....I am here to boost your ego and make you feel superior!

Nikkicrumpet presents........... STICKS & ROCKS
I'll admit it's not very "fallish" but it was my first attempt.

Nikkicrumpet presents.........SOMETHING EDIBLE THIS WAY COMES.
Did you notice that it's just candy in a cheap glass pumpkin? Because I was trying to camouflage that fact by adding some fake bittersweet....I thought it gave it just a hint of panache'

Nikkicrumpet presents............MY FIRST CLOCHE...WHATEVER THE HECK A CLOCHE IS!
Before I came to blogland I'd never heard of a cloche...I'm still not sure I'm even spelling it correctly. But I figured if I wanted to fit in here I needed to get me one of these. I gotta admit I think they are pretty fine looking filled with little treasures.

Nikkicrumpet presents.....Island decor that doesn't consist of mail & other extraneous junk my hubby drops there no matter how many dang times I threaten his life!


So there you have it...and that's as good as it's gonna get this year. I'm hoping that some of your creative ways will rub off on me over the next 12 months. And by next year I'll be a "Fall Diva" like you all! And if the earth tips on it's axis and all the planets align...I might even buy a set of matching dishes!


I had several people ask about the spray paint gadget...Here's a picture of this little treasure...$7 at the Home Depot...and it's MONEY WELL SPENT! it fits any spray can...it clips on and off easy as can be...and you don't have to clean it after each use. Now that's my kind of tool!!

I'M A BAD BAD GIRL

I admit it....I did the fun stuff first. Yeah I'm a wimp....and a slacker. I should have started with the most pressing things like sweeping, dusting, window washing. But I had a choice.......(A) Clean or (B) Go shopping at Home goods, Michaels, Linens & Things, and Osgoods fabrics.



Anyone want to venture a guess?



But I have proof that I at least accomplished something.



Bench before......

BENCH AFTER........ I tried to resist this toile...honest I did...but I'm telling you it practically launched itself right into my cart! I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. The total cost of the bench and the material comes to $17.50.

Oh and I bought one of those cool spray can handle comfort grip thingies...I can't remember which blogger friend showed us those things...but I bought one at Home Depot for $7 and let me tell you...those things are a MUST for anyone who uses a spray can. In fact it worked so good I decided to add another project to my list. I have this end table thingie in my guest room...and when I bought it at the auction it was this mustard color. Well it looks like crap in my guest room (I know this because everyone on RMS told me so) ...but I've never gotten around to painting it. Then today I found this killer lamp at Home Goods...figured it would look pretty great in my guest bedroom. So I swapped it for the lamp that was there...and when I put it on this cabinet it just fell flat. So this is getting a paint job next day off. I'll show you the end results of that guest bedroom when I get this painted.

I also bought some fall decor stuff to put in my kitchen....I'm still trying to figure out where and how. I'll make a "not inspirational but hey I tried" post on that as soon as I get things arranged.

And finally the bathroom Dilemma. I had an unopened gallon of paint that was a color we used in our last house. We always seem to buy more than we need. I figured after 3 1/2 years it would be the consistency of mud...but amazingly I opened the can and it was fine. So I figured...what the heck, it's free and that bathroom sure could use some color. I only got about half done today. And I'm not sure it's gonna be the direction I end up going forever...but for a temporary fix I think I can make it work.

The color is called "celery bunch". I had no clue what colors to use with this...so I just bought some yummy thick white towels and a celery colored rug to use for now. At least it will be somewhat presentable for when they get here. And I won't be so committed that I can't change things when I really decide what I want.

And last but definitely not least....I got honored with 2 blog awards.

The first one was from Kendra from Shabby Vintage Chic I found her blog awhile back and oh my you will die when you see her house and the stuff she collects. Her blog is a "drool just waiting to happen". Go visit her and you'll see what I mean. She gave me this great award Thanks so much Kendra I'm touched that you thought of me.

And Deb from Debs Country Kisses
gave me this really pretty award...it's one I've never seen before

Now if you've never been to Deb's blog well...what the heck you waiting for??? Her "Fashion Fridays" are a must see. She's quite the fashion guru...and you'll love hanging out at her blog. Thanks Deb I really appreciate your kindness! I'll do my best to hand these and a few other awards out on one big mondo "giving blog" here pretty quick.