Now I Just Need a Rug

I sent my dad and my husband off on a mission on last Saturday: buy the flooring for the nursery. The old, ugly pink carpeting was ripped out of the bedroom we are using, and we decided to install Pergo laminate flooring in its place. Hooray! (My goal is to do all of the bedrooms and part of the main floor, too... one room at a time...)

The men returned a few hours later, and thanks to my mother and her powers of persuasion suggestion, they decided to just go ahead and start installing it. A weekend with no plans turned into a weekend of "get shit done" - just how I like it!

While they hammered and sawed and made approximately one thousand trips up and down the stairs and in and out of the garage, my mom and I set out on a massive cleaning / decluttering / organizing mission. Trust me, it was necessary! I always find it easier to do things like that when you have someone to help you: in my case, it takes someone else saying "do you really need this??" for me to actually admit NO, and put it in the trash or giveaway pile. It helps to have fresh eyes on old crap.

By the time the four of us finished our respective projects on Sunday afternoon, we had a full trashcan, a carfull of things for Goodwill, and, the very best part, beautiful, beautiful fresh floors in the nursery. It looks absolutely perfect, and I can't believe how great of a job they did... it looks like it was professionally installed! There was some smart cutting required to get in around the closet door and within the walk-in closet, but they did it just right, and it looks amazing. I am in love!

Now, I just need to find the right rug for the room... a shopping mission awaits!

Labor Day Laboring (But Not That Kind!)

I'm a bit delayed with my Labor Day weekend stories, but you'll have to forgive me - it took a little extra time to recover from watching my beloved Hokies get run over by Ohio State on Monday night. Not an altogether unexpected outcome for that game, but tough nonetheless, especially since our QB got hurt in the process... womp, womp. Here's hoping the rest of the season looks better!

We opted out of a trip to the lake for the long weekend (another womp, womp) in favor of painting the nursery - it was definitely a hard choice, but one that I am really glad we made in the end. We took advantage of the long weekend at home to cross some big to-do items off the list. That is always good news!

For starters, we made a trip to Buy, Buy, Baby for a big purchase: our rocker / glider and ottoman! C and I spent some time jumping from seat to seat, testing them out, before ultimately deciding on one that we both really like and fit in (very important when there is 9" of height difference between parents!). Spending a lot of money and then walking out of a store empty-handed is never my favorite thing to do, but I am excited about the chair we got and can't wait for it to take it's rightful place in our baby's nursery!

We ordered a slightly different fabric, but similar to what's there...

In addition to the chair purchase, we made a stop by Barnes and Noble for "one book each" - half an hour later, that had turned into five between the two of us... oops. We are both bookworms at heart. Can't be trusted in a bookstore for very long! I picked up The Beautiful American, among other things, and have been reading it all week. It's a lovely story, and it was on the clearance table for $5. Score!

[source]

On Saturday, C did a fantasy football draft and finished prepping the nursery for paint, and I got a much-needed manicure and pedicure. We grilled some chicken and turned it into a huge platter of nachos... not taco salad, but pretty darn close. It was the perfect dinner for the first Saturday night of college football.

C's sister and brother-in-law came down on Sunday morning to help with the painting, which meant I was on baby duty for the afternoon. Fine by me! I spent the day supervising the painting and playing with our niece, including serving as a baby bed during nap time... Is there anything sweeter?

The painting went pretty quickly, and it looks just beautiful - I am super pleased with the color we chose, and I can't wait to see the room come together even more once we get flooring and furniture in. Fingers crossed that it turns out as well in real life as it is looking in my head!

Hard at work

My college roommate, Michelle, and her husband joined us for dinner at Castiglia's in downtown Fredericksburg on Sunday evening, I forgot to get any pictures, but we had a great time catching up over Italian food. Spaghetti and meatballs hit the spot - a total departure from my standard chicken parmigian order, but a delicious one.

On Monday, C and I suited up in our maroon and orange before running some errands and watching several episodes of NCIS... can't stop, won't stop. I had to make a quick trip to the gym to burn off some nervous game-day energy - seeing all the pictures of tailgates and Lane Stadium on social media was making me super jealous of everyone I knew who'd gone for the game, as well as super nervous since we had to wait til 8 PM for kickoff! Wah. 

Baby's first game day!

There was a minor emergency when I couldn't get ESPN to work on our main television, but luckily it was coming in clear on our other TVs - I think something is wrong with the cable box in our living room (boo, hiss). Crisis averted, game to be watched. Surprisingly, I actually managed to make it to the end of the game at almost midnight (not that the end was worth watching)... someone, though, did not.

Not the best VT fan there is...

It was definitely hard to peel myself out of bed yesterday morning following that late night, but at least it was already Tuesday! Short weeks are the best weeks, right? We're already halfway to the weekend again. You can do it!

Case of the Mondays

Happy Monday! It's gloomy and gray around here, but the temperature is not even hitting 80 so I'll take it. These little hints of fall are keeping me going through the muggy heat that seems to be never-ending.

How was your weekend? We had no "plans" for this one, but tons of things we needed to do. Since we've basically been gone or booked solid every weekend since before the 4th of July, our house was in a sorry state and the to-do list was a mile long. I definitely didn't get everything done that I wanted to, since my shoulder and arm are still bugging me quite a bit, but I plowed through a good chunk of the list and still managed to finish my book club book for this month (Station Eleven - anyone read it? Let's discuss!). It was a great "off" weekend (though I have very little photo evidence of such - sorry!).

Friday afternoon, I had a prenatal massage scheduled, which I was really looking forward to. Sadly, though, it was not the best one I've ever had. The masseuse had a very light touch, and I tend to prefer deeper massage, and I kind of forgot that prenatal massages are conducted while you lay on your side... which is not something extremely comfortable for me right now with the whole shoulder issue. The facility was nice and it wasn't terrible (any massage is a good massage in my book) but it definitely wasn't the great experience I was hoping for.

My new "happy hour" :)

After my appointment, C & I took advantage of our local summer Restaurant Week to grab dinner in downtown Fredericksburg. After much debate, we settled on Poppy Hill Tuscan Kitchen, which we always enjoy, and chowed down on Caprese salad, chicken parmigiana, and homemade chocolate chip cannoli. Ummm, yum. We ended the night watching The Skeleton Twins, which was not what I was expecting and one of the weirder movies I've seen in a long time. Awk-ward.

On Saturday morning, I met a (pregnant!) friend for (decaf) coffee at Hyperion, and spent a lovely hour catching up and comparing notes. She's just a few weeks behind me in her pregnancy, so we text a lot about things that are going on and such - it was nice to chat with something who is going through all the same things! After that, C and I had a mission: a trip to Lowe's to get some flooring information and some paint samples. The nursery calls!

We left with several Pergo samples, one of which matches our current main-floor flooring really nicely, so that was a success. We also came home with four paint samples to test on the walls - C got those up yesterday and the verdict is... I like them all. So indecisive! Luckily, I've got some time before I truly have to decide.

My darling husband worked his butt off in the nursery for a big chunk of Saturday and Sunday, and he made really great progress getting it to a point where it's a neutral space and we can actually start turning it into a nursery. I have been basic non-existent in the "helping" category up there, so it's all him and he's doing a fantastic job. I am doing a pretty good job of walking in occasionally and pointing out spots he missed with primer, etc. We all have our strengths!

Beautiful white walls... no more banana yellow!

The rest of the weekend was filled with house cleaning, organizing, and reading. Like I said, I didn't cross everything off my list, but I feel much better about the state of affairs, and hopefully I will get the rest done as the week progresses. I haven't been able to get the to the gym in the last week or so thanks to my arm issue, so I have some time at home to take care of things like doing laundry and scrubbing toilets (ick). A blessing in disguise... or something.

Here's hoping the "severe" thunderstorms they are calling for this afternoon hold off - I hate commuting in the rain. Have a great day, my friends!

Manic Mobile Monday

I might have to start a new thing called Mobile Monday... I had every intention of getting a post together for this morning, but before I know it, the day is almost over! The hours just fly by. Manic Monday is DEFINITELY real. Whew. 

We had a super busy weekend that was filled with quality time with family and friends, so I can't complain about that. I can, however, complain about how my weekend started: with a visit to the dermatologist, which I left with one less mole than I began. Womp, womp. A spot on my hand was deemed "weird" by the doctor, and next thing I knew, it was being removed for further testing. See ya, spot!

Pain in my hand aside, I can't actually complain about the appointment. The office was nice, the doctor was friendly and knowledgeable, and she was very proactive about skin care. Check, check, and check! So there's my PSA for the day: if you haven't had your skin checks lately, stop everything and make an appointment! It is so very important. 

Another notable weekend activity was a major yard project: bush removal! I have hated the boxwood bushes in front of our house since the day we moved in, so I got it in my head that we should remove them. Let me just say this: ripping out gigantic hedges is not as simple as one might believe. 

Luckily, I put together my dream team (my parents and husband are awesome) (not at all by bribing them with wine and food...) and together we ripped those suckers out. It may or may not have involved attaching a rope to my mom's Lexus and tying it around a bush and yanking it out of the ground... We're classy, y'all. At the end of the day, though, I was freaking thrilled with the results. You can actually see my front porch! Hooray! I am really lucky I got help though... Because, in retrospect, I have no idea how I thought I was going to handle that alone. It was a much bigger project than I anticipated! 

Our final activity of the weekend was attending a crab fest hosted by the local chapter of the Virginia Tech Alumni Association.

 It was so much fun, and made me simultaneously happy and sad. Happy, because it's almost time for college football to come back! But sad, because it was a "freshman send-off" event for local kids who are heading down to Blacksburg to start their college career.. And I am so jealous!! What I wouldn't give to be starting those four years over again. They don't know how lucky they are! Sob. 

Anyway, we ate crabs, drank beer, and enjoyed the great company of fellow Hokies - can't beat that for a Sunday afternoon! 

C and I are looking forward to getting more involved with the alumni club - it's such a great organization, and I love meeting people who love my alma mater as much as I do. Hokie Nation, baby!

So tell me...

• Have you ever tackled a home-improvement project that turned out harder than you expected?
• Are you involved with your college alumni club?
• Are you a crab eater? I LIKE crab, but I really don't like working so hard for my food...!

Why do one project when you can do four?!

This was a major "do all the things" weekend for us. It was pretty much non-stop from the minute we got home on Friday! With a little help, we were able to do several projects we've been eying for a while now. Can't believe we've lived in our house for almost a year now!

While exhausting, it was also very exciting to get some things crossed off the to-do list that seems to grow faster than I can even write down! Owning a home is no joke, my friends. But I love it. I love the sense of accomplishment and pride that comes from looking around and knowing we have done things to keep our house looking good and in good condition. Now, if only the grass would figure out how to cut itself...

On Friday afternoon, I made a quick trip to the mall and HomeGoods while C worked on his home-brewing project. Then we got cleaned up and headed out for a local event called First Friday. It's exactly what it sounds like - on the first Friday of the month, local businesses and galleries set up open-house style and invite people in to see what they've got. C & I met up with some friends for dinner at Colonial Tavern, then wandered downtown before ending up at Vivify for some rooftop drinks. It was gorgeous night, and we had a great time sitting and chatting. We had so much fun that I forgot to snap a single pic... whoops!

Saturday was project day! We were up bright and early to clean up the house a bit before C's parents arrived. They brought a carful of power tools and gardening supplies, and came prepared to work. I am so grateful for their help! C & his dad went to work on some front porch repairs - there were power saws and nail guns involved, so I was glad to stay out of their hair.

My MIL and I tackled the garden on the side of our house. When we moved in, this particular side was covered in raspberry bushes! Lovely, but... not. They grow like CRAZY and are such a pain to keep trimmed back and under control. Plus, while I'd love to sit around picking berries, we all know I ain't got time for that.

The bushes were pulled a few months ago, but we never got around to killing the roots, and they were coming back with a vengeance. My MIL and I pulled weeds and roots and turned all the soil, then gave the whole area a heavy coat of grass & weed killer. We topped it with newspaper and mulch, and hopefully it will be ready for some new planting come fall!

 

I am excited because the soil looked really good while we were working in it, so hopefully the raspberries will be gone for good and I can plant something pretty over there. We also cleaned up the nicer area at the edge of the garden, and gave that rosebush a good prune.

Meanwhile, C and his dad had finished the porch and moved on to other things. They built a stand / holder for our VT bell, which has been gathering dust in the garage. High-time to get it out and start racking up those Hokie wins! C didn't want to screw the bell into the bricks, so they built a handy little holder for it. Easily transportable!

As if that wasn't enough, the guys were sweet enough to finish a long-time-coming project for me! I bought this old US map off eBay almost two years ago, fully intending to get it framed and hung. Then... It sat in a bag in the closet for two years. Whoops! C & his dad built me a custom frame out of plastic molding, and got the whole thing put together for me! I love the finished product, and we are already looking forward to visiting new places so we can put new pins in the map.

 

 

After my in-laws left, we had just a few minutes to relax before our next guests arrived! C's cousin and his wife brought their sweet almost-two-year-old son over for a visit. We intended to cook dinner, but made the executive decision that pizza was in order. We played outside for awhile and chewed down with a couple of beers before they headed home. I'll be honest - I was asleep by 8:30 that night! I was worn. out. C started an episode of Sherlock on Netflix, but I'm pretty sure I didn't see more than a few minutes of if before I was passed out on the couch. Homegirl can't hang! My eyelids just would not hold themselves open any longer. It's possible that I'm 20-something going on 80-something!

Sunday was just as busy. C put the finishing touches on the porch (it needed some paint) and I washed the cars. I'm pretty sure that was the first time I've washed a car by hand in.... years... But we had time and space and it sure beat spending $50 to take them both to the car wash. We also washed the garage floor and oragnized some things in there. Needless to say, our trash can is packed to overflowing. Feels good to get rid of junk taking up space, though!

Just when you thought I couldn't add anything more to this weekend... We wrapped it up with a few more errands, grabbed some dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings, and stopped by the grocery store. By the time we settled on the couch to watch the season finale of Turn, we were both exhausted! It's been a long time since we had a free weekend when we could just work on thing after thing that needed to be done. Sure feels good to look around and know that we did everything we planned to and more! Although there was ONE individual who was not so pleased with all this weekend activity.... of course:

Guys. Stop.

So tell me...

• What project did you accomplish this weekend?
• Do you wash your car by hand or take it somewhere? Like I said, I'm generally a let-someone-else-do-it kinda gal...
• Anything exciting happening this week? Big Father's Day plans? Happy Monday!

Delicious dinner & yard surprises

This weekend was everything that weekends are supposed to be. Relaxation, organization, delicious food, quality time with quality people, and sunshine! I am sporting my first (minor) sunburn of the season this morning, thanks to a few hours of yard work and a little porch-sittin' yesterday afternoon - and I'm not even mad! It's a lingering reminder of all the good stuff we soaked up over the past few days.

A quick picture recap, because seeing is believing!

As promised, Friday night was date night! C & I enjoyed a delicious dinner at a local cafe, complete with live music and no phones or TVs. Just what we needed!

Saturday morning was dedicated to organizing the pantry. We had to pull everything out while the painters were working last week, and I refused t put anything back in until we could do it with some thought and planning. Everything sort of got thrown in there when we moved in last August, and it definitely needed some work. I browsed every aisle of Bed, Bath, and Beyond and Target on Saturday morning, and came home armed with a system. It took us several hours, but we are so happy with the results! Now, maintaining this system is another story...

We had plans with my parents for Saturday evening, and they came down early so my mom and I could squeeze in a run. We hit the pavement at the nearby battlefield and got in a great workout together. It was beautiful and breezy - just how I like it! PS: Have you used the FitSnap app? It's a fun way to track workouts right in the moment. I just discovered it the weekend & look forward to using it more!

We decided to take my parents out to dinner to thank them for paying for the painting (a lovely housewarming gift, indeed) and I made a reservation at a local restaurant we hadn't tried yet. It was definitely a good pick! Our dinner at Poppy Hill Tuscan Kitchen was one of the most memorable restaurant meals I've had in a long time - can't wait to share more about this amazing local treasure. I chose the salmon served over shrimp risotto for my entree, and was in foodie heaven. It was insane! I practically licked my plate clean. Yum!

On Sunday morning, we went out to breakfast at the same cafe where C & I had our date (Amy's - love it so much we went 2x in one weekend!). It was a good thing we had a big, hearty meal, because when we got home, we decided that some spur-of-the-moment yard work was in order. Several hours and 16 17 gigantic trash bags later, we had done major clean-up damage in the back yard. Everything was in alright shape when we moved in at the end of last summer, but it needed some major TLC, and we just didn't have the time last fall to do everything that needed to be done. No time like the present! We cut back trees, cleaned our flower beds, raked up a bajillion pine needles, and fertilized the lawn. Very glad to have that all taken care of!

We couldn't waste any of the beautiful day, so C & I wrapped up the weekend with a grill meal: steak and asparagus, plus a mayo-less potato salad. It was the perfect dinner to enjoy while we watched the ACMs. Anyone else see the show? I thought it was great! There are some really talented country musicians out there right now, and I am loving seeing how the careers progress (also, I'm really glad that Taylor Swift isn't dominating the scene any more!).

One last picture for the day... I have a running list of what I call "Yard Surprises" - you never know what you'll find in a new yard, left behind by the previous owners. This was definitely one I appreciated:

So tell me...

• Do you have a favorite local eatery? We love all the options near us that aren't chain restaurants!
• Did you fit in a workout this weekend? Tell me about it! I'm so happy that it's outdoor running season again.

Project #1: Over and Done

On Saturday, C & I tackled House Project #1 for 2014: painting our guest room. We currently have three spare bedrooms in the house and generally let guests crash wherever they like, but once there are kidlets running around and the two rooms upstairs are claimed, the basement bedroom will be the "official" guest room. There is a full bathroom in our basement, so that makes it perfect - guests can have their own space, shower and toilet included, and everyone is happy! This was definitely a selling point of the house for us, and I'm so glad we have the opportunity to use our space this way.

The original color in this room was a lovely forest / camouflage / mold green, and, as an added bonus, there were holes in ALL the walls - the family before us had hung stuff everywhere, generally with wall anchors, and the room just looked a mess. C spackled and sanded on Friday and moved as much of the stuff out of the room as he could. We got up bright and early Saturday morning to tape off the baseboards and move the rest of the stuff, and then we got the party started!

You can see a hint of the green walls in the upper left corner

We had almost a gallon of paint left from when we painted the main part of the basement, and we've like the color so well that we decided to use it in the guest room, too. The main basement gets a lot of natural light, and the guest room gets very little, so the colors actually look pretty different. I like the effect, because it makes it look like we picked coordinating-but-different colors, when, really, we just used what we had.

FYI - the color is Woodsmoke by Eddie Bauer.

A few hours and two coats of paint later, we had a bright, fresh new guest room! I love how clean the new paint looks, and having all the holes patched makes it look so much more put-together. I am excited to style the room and find a few pieces of furniture for it now! Time to actually turn that sad little room into a special place for our guests to stay.

Before and after

A better idea of what the color actually looks like

I'm planning on keeping the black and white bedspread, and planning to accent the room with white and turquoise or teal. Granted, this is all TBD, depending on what I find as I start to scour Pier 1 and Homegoods... looking forward to having a little freedom to do whatever I like!

A bone to pick + Five for Friday

First things first: I have a serious bone to pick with Chobani.

Allow me to explain: for the last year and a half or so, I have cut sour cream out of my diet and replaced it with plain Greek yogurt.

(PS - if you haven't tried this, you should. Same taste, same texture, more protein, I don't feel bad about loading a baked potato with 1/4 cup of it... win, win, win, win.)

That being said, I purchase the giant containers of plain Chobani - 32 oz - for about $5 at whichever grocery store I'm at. It lasts me a few weeks, and it makes me happy. Or, at least, it USED to! Apparently, Chobani has stopped selling these large containers of yogurt, because I cannot find them anywhere. The "big" containers now are about half the size, and about $4. Nothing about this is good! More money, less yogurt, not happy. It is a travesty. Because of this issue, I have been forced to try a new brand of yogurt (thank you, Wegmans, for selling the big containers), and I have yet to come to terms with this. We had a good thing going, Chobani. Why'd ya have to go and ruin it??

Five for Friday: Really Random

1. We have a To-Do list with approximately 9834 items on it for tomorrow / this weekend. I am confident that we can get it all done! But it is slightly daunting.... on the bright side, I do love list-making.

2. One of the things on the list is to hang my gallery wall. We have a great space in the main entry way that I have been picturing having lots of pictures up on, and I can't wait to make it happen. Currently, said gallery wall looks like this:

Not exactly the look I'm going for...

3. I made the most delicious bean soup one night this week. Thanks to Allison for the recipe! C & I both loved it, and it will be a great addition to our fall / winter weekly dinner rotation.

4. We totally pushed our social boundaries last night (really demonstrating my / our home-body-ness right now...). I found out that the local chapter of the Virginia Tech Alumni Club was hosting a get-together at a local bar to watch VT vs GT last night, so we went and met up with them! It was just C and me and a group of people my parents' age for a while... fun! But then Stephanie and her husband showed up, and it turned out that we had a blast! We only stayed at the bar til half time then headed home, but it was still fun to branch out a little and meet some people. The alumni club seems to be pretty active down here, so I'm looking forward to see what else that holds for us.

5. I'm burning this candle today and my house smells amazing:

Tomorrow is "do all of the things" day, and then on Sunday we are off to C's cousin's wedding in Leesburg. Anyone have any fun weekend plans?

 

Bring on the drop clothes and rollers

We are taking on our very first new-home-owners DIY task this weekend: painting the basement.

(dun dun dunnnnnnn....)

The basement in our house consists of a guest room, unfinished laundry room, one full bath, and then a large open room. For the previous owners, it was a playroom, and it's painted a lovely shade of sky blue. For us, it is not a playroom (for now) - or at least not a playroom for children! It's going to be C's "man cave" area (although I really kind of hate that term, because I will enjoy the area just as much), where all the sports memorabilia will go, as well as a TV, the kegerator, pool table, etc. It'll be a lovely rec room when we're finished, I'm sure - but first, that sky blue has got to go!

I'm kind of excited about painting. I know it's something that many people find daunting, but I've been doing it for as long as I can remember. As a kid, my parents always let us pick whatever color we wanted for our bedrooms, and we could change the color every couple of years, with the requirement that we help with the painting. I'm pretty much an old pro :)

However, there is a key piece of this process missing - I haven't picked a color! Kind of important, I guess. I'm leaning towards some sort of gray, which I think would make a nice neutral background for the variety of sports colors that will be in the room.

Here are some examples of what I'm thinking:

L-R: Pediment, Urban Putty, Alpaca, & Roycroft Mist Gray (All by Sherwin Williams)

Now that I'm looking again, though, none of this really look like the gray that I want... Bah. I have a feeling this is going to be a spur-of-the-moment decision, while we are standing in Lowe's!

Any suggestions for a good gray paint to use? All recommendations welcome...