On Happy Accidents and Power Tools

Well, I finally got some window treatments up in the Master Bedroom. And it only took three years.
Mike loves it when I call him at work to ask where the drill is. Actually, I did okay - no errant holes (in the wall OR in my skin).

I'd been meaning to hang drapes in the MB for a while, especially after seeing the dramatic difference drapes made in some of our other rooms. I wasted a lot of time drooling over several panels from Pottery Barn and Anthropologie, but in the end, I just couldn't justify the prices. Which, unfortunately, ran from $99 to $248 per panel. Times six. Ouch.

The Ella Drape from Pottery Barn $99/panel (96")

The Audrey Drape from Pottery Barn $99/panel (96")
The Adorations Drape from Anthropologie $178/panel (96")
The Avignon Drape from Anthropologie $248(!)/panel (96")
Had I been absolutely, positively sure that the MB would remain the same for a while, I maybe, maybe would've saved up and taken the plunge with the expensive drapes. BUT I'm not sure about that the room WILL stay the same, for a few reasons. For one, I'm not crazy about our headboard and would like to get a new bed sometime soon, if the budget allows. Also, I've had second thoughts about the paint color, which I do love, but Mike does not. So, rather than buy some crazy-expensive drapes that were going to look nice in THIS bedroom, I figured I'd play it safe for now and buy some cheaper, neutral drapes that would look nice in almost ANY bedroom.

So, my sister and I headed out to Target. Although I have three windows in the MB, I initially tried to get away with using only 4 panels, in another attempt at keeping costs down. I thought I could maybe hang just one drape in the areas between two windows...


Soooo, after digging through a VERY picked over window treatment selection (almost the entire aisle was on clearance - which was good and bad), I really didn't see anything that jumped out at me. I settled on a Thomas O'Brien herringbone drape that looked like it had promise. The color on the package said "White," but these drapes are most definitely NOT white. They're more of a cream or ivory color. I told my sis that I had a feeling I was gonna get the drapes home and either hate them, or end up loving them and this would be one more happy accident to add to the list. Luckily, I snagged the last four 95" drapes. No small feat considering the state of the drapery aisle. As an added bonus, the panels had been marked down from $34.99 to $24.99. I also picked up three black curtain rods on clearance for $9.99.

I went home with my panels and curtain rods and got to work. An hour later I was staring at some surprisingly nice drapes in a room that looked liked someone had cut some serious corners by trying to use four panels where there definitely should have been six. It seemed I had underestimated the angle of the bends in the wall and there was no way the four panel plan was gonna work, short of me buying an expensive rod system.
I already knew I'd gotten the last four panels in my local Target, but a quick Internet search showed that they were available online and in a Target store a few towns over. The very next day, my wonderful mother stopped in to said Target on her way home from work and picked them up for me!

And now that I have all six panels hung up and looking pretty, I am officially declaring this one a happy accident.

P.S. Happy Birthday Dana!

A Funny Thing Happened...

Sometimes, when Mike works overnight, dangerous things can happen. It all started innocently enough. My lack of spouse accounted for me sitting up til all hours, listening for strange sounds that only existed in my head (ah, the life of a firefighters wife) and watching chick flicks to pass the time. And that's when it happened - while absentmindedly flipping through channels, I came upon one of my all time favorite movie house movies. Spanglish.

It is not easy to find interior shots of the house in this movie. You'll just have to watch it for yourself! There are actually two houses: the Clasky family home and the Malibu vacation home they rent for the summer. I, however, am exclusively obsessed with the family home. The home itself can't be easily put into words. It's beautiful, of course. Just the right amounts of classic and well-loved. The house is full of knick-knacks, accessories, pillows, you name it. Some of you might think it just looks cluttered, but I love it. It is very apparent that a family lives here. And yet, it's classy and elegant all the same. They have a freakin' foosball table in the middle of the family room and yet somehow, inexplicably, it's still beautiful.

My favorite room in the house is the master bedroom. It's a blur of florals and stripes and colors and yet it all comes together. I want to hibernate in this room all winter. That being said, even at 1:00 A.M., while listening for signs of a break-in that would never happen, I realized that the closest I was gonna get to a room like this was re-creating it as best I could in my own, much smaller, bedroom. And so, after several days of Spanglish-induced shopping, I've come to one absolute conclusion: I CANNOT STOP BUYING PILLOWS AND BLANKETS.

And now, my bed looks like this:


I think I've officially reached the maximum allowable pillow count on our bed. I'm up to 10(!). Or is it 12? Something like that. Mike's actually been a good sport about all of this. I suspect it's because the bed, if nothing else, has become infinitely more comfortable. And after all, pillows are cheaper than shoes and handbags.

On Saturday, I attended a lovely wedding shower (hi Jen!) with my mother-in-law and sisters-in-law. When the shower ended, my sister-in-law, Kristen, my mother-in-law, Loretta and I decided we weren't quite ready to go home yet. So where did we go? Well, T.J. Maxx of course! Ah, the old standby. The place where I feel almost as at-home as at home. T.J. Maxx is always hit or miss, but when you hit, you HIT. It was one of those days! Kristen, Loretta and I ended up spending an hour "enabling the hell out of each other" and while we all walked away with some very cute things, Loretta was definitely the grand-prize winner of the day. Loretta went home with THIS:


FOR SEVENTY-FIVE DOLLARS! Can you believe that!?! We later found out that the chair, from the Compositions line by Schnadig Furniture usually retails for around $1,000.00!!! It's from the same maker that does all of the Ralph Lauren Home furniture. Unbelievable! We literally did NOT believe the price tag. We kept asking the T.J. Maxx employees, "Well, what's wrong with it? Something has to be wrong." But no, it was pretty much perfect. And you should have seen Kristen man up to carry the chair into Loretta's house while wearing two-inch heels. Like I said, it was one of those days.

I ended up getting a cute little table to go behind the chaise lounge in my bedroom. The chaise currently serves as further evidence of my blanket/pillow buying madness. I've wanted it to serve as a good place to read, but that wasn't happening until i got some good light in there somewhere. And the reading lamp I needed wasn't happening until I found a tall, narrow table to fit behind the chaise. So now, I have my reading spot. I also snagged that tray on the blanket, it's really beautiful in person, with a mother-of-pearl type inlay. (Shout out to Jen again - see your shower favor there???)


Now, I need some artwork to hang above the chaise. This one section of wall looks particularly sad and empty. For some reason, I don't like the idea of buying art at chain stores. I'll be stalking etsy for something, I think.


Jeez, it's embarrassing when you forget the remove all the "daily life" crap from your pics before posting...


I'll leave you with this pic of Finn and Cullen at public skating on Saturday. Here's Finn giving his little bro a ride around the rink. In the interest of full disclosure, this picture was taken seconds before they wiped out. Not to worry, there were no serious injuries sustained. Although Cullen did tell me his eyes hurt. Whatever that means. Seeing as he was wearing a helmet with a full cage on it. I think he just picked a random body part and struck out this time. Ah, well.

Pics of the World's Smallest Bathroom to come! Some day.

Some Spanglish pics found at Hooked on Houses.

A Month Late. A Buck Short.

Okay, yes, it is officially a month after Christmas. But I couldn't very well let these pics go to waste, now could I? Or, maybe I could have, as once again half of my pics are from my crappy cell phone camera...


Annnd, of course, any excuse to show off the rink...



On a COMPLETELY UNRELATED NOTE (as in, NO this is NOT some kind of "hint." NO, I am NOT pregnant again). I found this old scan while going through my computer looking for the Christmas pics. Is this not the most freakish sonogram you've ever seen?


This is Mr. Cullen, in utero, acting as if he was fully expecting us. I think he's saying, "Here I am! Over here! See you in July!" I usually cannot make heads or tails of these things, but Cullen was doing his damnedest to make it all plain as day for his sometimes-a-little-slow Mom. Okay, enough about that. Just had to share that one.

Tomorrow I'll post some pics of our quick fix of the World's Smallest Bathroom.