Bathroom Remodel

So I finally found all the bathroom pictures before it became what it is today!

Lovely blue, don't you think.... notice the tile floor....... 

it began sinking one day.

The bathroom was last on my list of re-dos and quickly became number one!

See where the towels are....to the right of that was this....

There was another sink in the corner, a really little sink.

Groovy floor....

 and notice the pretty clouds on the wall.....?

 You had to step up to this area.

I'm 5'7 and was a little claustrophobic.

It became wasted space.

I never went in there.

So anyway on to the great floor cave in!!!!

Well, well what a surprise.......the floor was made out of Highway signs......

Really old Highway signs!  Like from the 60's.

 These suckers were made of thick wood and were really heavy.

But they were no match for a leaky pipe under the tub.

Yep, Highway signs.

And look at the lovely floor that was under the tile....

it just got better and better!

I had to have the whole floor torn up. 

Since there is just a creepy crawl space under my house it was dirt, the ground

 under the "use what you have and make it work" highway signs.

And today..............

And yes I have a thing about mirrors......

not so I'm able to look at myself everywhere I turn, 

I just like mirrors.

Over the years I have collected quite a few.

I sure do love my bathroom!!!!

Thanksgiving Weekend Review

What a nice looooong weekend!

Had a wonderful time with The Boyfriend's family.

And the fake dinner.........was really good..... 

I know, who would have thought!??

Actually the only thing they bought was two pre-cooked turkeys and 

the rest they prepared the old fashion way.

They even made Green Chili which was to die for!

Me and So-so did have words....he was making fun of me for 

stealing my thunder!

The nerve, young boy, the nerve!

His family did come over on Saturday for MY dinner and did admit my Stuffing 

is the best in the land......and probably the world.

He also made reference that maybe he might like to do Christmas some year.... silly, silly child there is no way he can pull that off!

Leave that Holiday to a Professional!

And on a sad note my little buddy Bob passed away yesterday.

RIP 

Robert "Bob" Rooster

2005 - 2010

Bob couldn't walk too well, his feet never quite worked for some reason.

 I built him him his own condo inside the chicken coop.

If you know about chickens, it's all about Survival of the Fittest!

And they take it very seriously.

So Bob had to have his own place.

In the winter, since Bob had nobody to snuggle with he came in the house.

He would sit under the kitchen table on my feet. 

Then, when he was ready, 

he would hobble into the mud room and go to bed.

In the mornings he would make his way to the bath room 

and sit on the rug with the 2 cats and watch me get ready for work.

He was a good buddy.

I'm going to miss him.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

 

Unfortunately I was never able to have off spring......

after thousands of tests and billions of dollars, 

I finally accepted faced that fact.

Thank goodness I have always had The Nephew.

Ever since he was a baby we have always been close,

we have a....bond......

Even still, today and he's 17!!!

He made this in grade school, how wonderful is that!? 

I never put it away, I keep it on the wall in my pantry so I see it everyday.

It makes me have a smile in my heart.

Colorado IKEA Countdown 2010

The IKEA blue walls!!!!

Hi Mr. Rabbit are you as excited about IKEA as I am?

Ummmmm, guess not.

They are are going to have to move faster

Momma needs a new sofa!!!

and chair, 

and rugs, 

and candles, 

and sheets.......

The Earth Muffin, Tree Hugger In Me

So The Boy Friend and I went to the Mall yesterday.

We went to my most favorite, 

can't afford even sale stuff, 

love every single thing in the store,

ANTHROPOLOGIE!

They had real pine trees in burlap bags 
with fake snow on them all over the store.

I immediately told The Boy Friend I am so doing this for Christmas!!!

But then the Earth Muffin came out in me and I felt really sorry for the trees.

Were they being watered, who was caring for them,

and

what about after Christmas!

Were they just going in the dumpster???

NO NO NO

I  started to make a scene....I stomped over to the counter, 

 jumped up on my Tree Hugger 100% recyclable soap box, 

and said this is really uncool, 

these poor trees!!  

What was going to happen to them......

The women behind the counter grabbed my shoulders, shook me, 

and told me to ahold of myself.......

Customers can adopt the trees!!!!!!

After Christmas you pick them up and plant them in your  yard!!!

Well God Bless Us Everyone!

And of course........ all the really full, pretty trees were already adopted.

So I adopted the poor Charlie Brown Tree that nobody liked!

Merry Merry

Thanksgiving....Dinner...???

So The Boy Friend and I have a great relationship. 

We’ve been together forever! 

We have tons of fun and laugh a lot…... 

Ladies he even goes to antique stores and junk yards with me and does it with a smile!

He understands my decorating sickness and helps me move the furniture, 

change out rugs, change picture arrangements..…whatever. 

But more than anything he understands my need to entertain……..

or so I thought!

Well that all changed last night…….

TBF:  Hey guess what,  So and So called and wants to have Thanksgiving at their house this year…….

Me: * blink  blink *  But I do it every year…..we already have the turkey.

TBF:  I know, but won’t it be great that you don’t have to do anything?  You won’t have to get up at 5:00am and start cooking.

Me:  But I live for that, 

I started planning this years meal at 5:00pm LAST YEAR.

I have fall dishes, 

fall napkins, 

fall wine glasses

……and my stuffing is world famous!!! 

No matter how much I make we always run out!!!

TBF:  Ahhh come on, they really want to.

Me:  OK, but I’m bringing my stuffing…..

TBF:  You don’t have to, they are ordering the whole meal in from the grocery store….

Me:  *complete look of horror, grabs chest and falls to the floor in my last dying breath I call my sister and can barely pronounce the words…….*

pre made dinner 

from a gro…

a grocer…..

a gro cer eeeee store

*with that I pass out*

THERE ARE NO WORD PEOPLE!  

THIS IS NOT AMERICAN!!!

THIS IS NOT HOW THE INDIANS AND PILGRIMS DID IT!!!

Being the crazy control freak Martha Stewart wanna be that I am, 

I  HAVE to have the get togethers, 

I NEED TO

I HAVE THE DISHES!

So there will be a second Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday at my house, 

my table

my fall dishes

my fall napkins 

my fall wine glasses

 my turkey with herbs from my garden

 my mashed potatoes ( well really Pioneer Women’s recipe ) 

my sister will my making our Aunt Peg’s wonderful green bean casserole with smashed Lays Potato Chips it  does  not  get  any better

………oh and real pumpkin pie

Thank. you. very. much.

Dinner is a at 5:00

You are all invited

Pre made grocery store dinner, indeed!!!

This table just calls out for Thanksgiving! 

Fall - Decorating Antique Post Cards

I really like old, antique post cards.

Wasn't it nice, not so long ago, people actually sent cards.....not emails.

I have some for each holiday and I am always finding more.

I amazes me the addresses.....hard to think all you had to write 

was the name and the city and it was delivered!  

Can you imagine that now??  

Forget one number off the zip code and it gets returned!

How nice, "Dear Little Friend".

Must have been from a brother, looks like, Paul....

"this from someone so busy", 

"pleasant Thanksgiving to you and Father and Mother".

I can't for the life of me ever hearing my brother speak so eloquently....

or ever sending me a card for that matter!

I, on occasion make  request my nephew go on adventures with me.  

We once visited the Colorado Museum in downtown Denver.  

On display there were cards and letters from the Tabor family, 

one of the families in Colorado history.  

Anyway, one of the letters was addressed

"To My Dearest, Darling, Aunite". 

I requested that my nephew, from that day forward address me the same.

Maybe it would have worked better if he was 7 years old at the time....

15 not so much, 

just the good ole roll of the eyes.

I also love the names... Lizzie.....

Oh my you don't suppose it was Lizzie Borden...

Did she ever marry?

See Wm Gerloff, Ayr Neb. 

That's it. no street. no nothing. 

Just delivered.

So there you go, another Fall Decorating idea!

Oh and by the way, the little Pumpkin Card Holders,

Pottery Barn, $20.00.  

The Rooster Card Holder, Pottery Barn, sale section. 

The other big Pumpkin, real!

Decorating - Bathroom

The one thing I am most proud of in my house is my bathroom make over!

Especially my sink.

I wanted to take an antique dresser and make a vanity out of it.  Unfortunately the space for my sink is really small and I could never find anything that fit.

So one night it came to me.....

For starters I don't have a before picture....don't yell at me 

I HATED my vanity.

If we work together I'm sure you can picture it in your mind.

Fake wood, light brown, one of those fake marble tops with a built in sink

.......wait for it......

 shaped like a shell!

Lovely!  

They, the people who lived there before me had replaced the facets with fancy ones.  The only problem they have gold in them. 

Not a big fan of gold.

This is a before photo of the bathroom.

The vanity was the color of that really super, nice toilet seat.

DAAAA TAAAA this is my vanity today.

Still a work in progress as you can see by the wall....

I kept the same vanity and painted it white, added some scratched edges and replaced the top with piece of wood I found in my shed.  

The sink I got at Habitat for Humanity.  

Fair trade......

I gave them the fake marble lovely shell and I purchased this for $15.00!!

Besides, one woman's hate it is another woman's love it!

I know my shell sink found a happy home.

Now this where I amazed myself.....the back wood piece... left over molding from the floor!  

I just cut and glued it on....but not before adding......

This little decorative piece I bought a at Home Depot!

How clever am I !!!!  

As far as the facet you can see the gold around the H and the C but I'm living with it right now because those gadgets are $$$$$ and I am on a budget!

And one more thing, see my awesome toilet paper holder....

Unscrewed that from a wall of a house that was being tore down!

I love it !

Fall Decorating - Fall Bathroom

Like I mentioned, I change out almost everything for the seasons.

I can't help it, I get bored!

And I probably have way too much time on my hands.

These towels I got at Kohl's and they aren't bad.  

I'm kind of a sheet and towel snob.  

They all must be soft and towels must be absorbent.  

I once paid an arm and leg for some Tommy Hilfiger towels 

and it was like drying yourself off with a plastic bag! 

Colorado IKEA Countdown 2010

FINALLY PEOPLE!!!! 

This the best thing to happen to Colorado since...since....

I DON'T even know WHAT!!!

My friends in Atlanta, Texas and Utah will be so glad I won't be sending 

them to IKEA to pick stuff up for me.  

I LOVE IKEA, there are no words!

Get this, a friend of mine just re-did her whole kitchen and everything came for IKEA. It was cheaper for her to rent a U-Haul and drive her cabinets, and counters back then order from anybody here!

So anyway this is what I will be doing until IKEA opens.......

I will be hanging out here till it is done!

Opening day will be like Christmas and my Birthday all in one!!

I. AM. SO. EXCITED.

More Remodel

This was the stove area in all it's glory before!

Ohh my I forgot about that carpet!  

It was great back then because I had a sick Rooster and he could just wonder around the kitchen because it did not matter on the that nice indoor/outdoor carpet.

As they say on the Stanley Steamer commercials, 

I had a in home, free range Rooster.
I love those commercials....with the Alpaca....come on they are fun ny!!!

More about Robert "Bob" Rooster another day.

And here it is today!!!

And the funny part about this picture, it really shows the slight angle my house is at.

Or I was drinking......

It's an old house people!!  

It's been added on to a few times and there was never a permit drawn until moi!

My clutter up close........

Little corns in a mason jar, cinnamon sticks, bay leaves

make for cute fallness, cozy decor.

Cute brown pumpkin plate.......guess where I got it......

My sister's Consignment Store!

Awesome Crow spoon plate.

Local artist here, more on her stuff later.

And put it all together!

They you have it, my fall stove!

Jane's Closet

I ordered this little ensemble from J. Crew

I love J. Crew and when I opened my J. Crew box there was a bonus! 

I was so excited.....

J. Crew LOVES me back! They are sending ME a bonus for 

being a frequent J. Crew shopper 

and always paying my minimum credit card payment on time!

Could happen........??

Cute black shoes.......

Cute little zipper!

Wow how cute are these!! 
But, I, being the honest, trust worthy, American that I am 

will return the shoes to J. Crew..... 

I would hate for some stuffing J. Crew boxes person to lose their job because they accidently sent me bonus shoes that I did not order....

and because 

MAN did these hurt my feet!

Sorry, love ya J. Crew, just not these shoes!

Oh and this is what this should look like on me....

wish me luck with that will you!

(And PS  J. Crew does not know me or probably care about me at all and did not pay me in anyway to promote their wonderful, ever stylish clothes..... damn it.)