Wrightsville Weekends

This past weekend hubby and I decided to leave the honey do lists behind and jump in the car for a weekend getaway.  Our favorite weekend hideaway spot is Wrightsville Beach, NC.  In Wrightsville, something magical happens to us when we cross the bridge into this small beach town. All the stress of the week or weeks melts away and it's always 5 o'clock here. We checked into our favorite boutique hotel the Blockade Runner and got the party started. 

Our sound side room was sooo adorable and charming.  As I have shared in other posts I have a small obsession with anything nautical so our room was PERFECT!

Does anyone know how to find this fabric... it must be mine!

We come to Wrightsville for the white sandy beaches and view of the beautiful sound.  The sound always reminds me of the coastal Massachusetts town that I grew up in. 

Friday evening we ventured into Wilmington and had dinner at Manna Avenue. The food was innovative and delicious. The Gin Gin Mule drink might have been one of the best drinks we have ever tried.

Saturday we did a lot of nothing which was the point of weekend. 

We looked out the window...

Drank a few of these...

Per hubby I dressed like the curtain...

Saw this from our window..

Outside temp is probably 45 degrees and this crazy man drove up, pulled up his shorts, walked into the water and stood there for at least 10 minutes.

no words...

Then we watched a beautiful sunset...

Ahhhh Wrightsville I love you!

Now we are back reality in the big city with all our big problems, boo!

Where do you go for a weekend to unwind and getaway?

Technology Tuesday

A friend recently rocked my face off when he told me about the free Houzz app for my phone or ipad.  Maybe I have been living under a rock but seriously does everyone know about this site except me?

About Houzz

Houzz is a leading destination site for home design enthusiasts-- professionals and homeowners. The Houzz site and mobile apps feature over 250,000 high quality interior and exterior photos, thousands of highly-engaging articles written by design experts, product recommendations and social tools to manage the remodeling and decorating process.

limited attention span video about Houzz

boring but more informative video about Houzz

People, it has changed my life!  I personally think it kicks pinterest butt for design ideas... ohhh fighting words I know.

What do you think?

Adventures in Beadboard Ceilings Part 2

Welcome back to part 2 in my series of installing a bathroom beadboard ceiling.  Sorry but we have so many pictures from this project to share I just felt like it needed more than one post.  To catch you up from Friday's part 1 post:

1.  I had a vision

2.  I had to convince hubby of my vision

3.  Hubby eventually comes around months later and likes my vision

4.  Mission accomplished!

Next steps was to draw up some plans and gather a shopping list. 

We arrived at Home Depot with so much confidence in our easy "weekend project".  Boy, did we quickly realize that we might just be a little over our heads when we came upon the never ending wall of wood.

After maybe an hour or so of wandering the cold aisles of Home Depot in my poorly chosen 4inch heels and asking for help we loaded up our rusty metal wagon and got to work.  Below is hubby checking his shopping list to make sure we didn't forget anything b/c thats never happened.

This is now the point of the project when we stop smiling for a while.  Home Depot allows you to cut the long trim boards to size to save you money but they don't make it easy for you.  Here hubby is using an old bent handsaw they provided to try and cut the trim wood to size.  In all it was about 25 minutes of hand sawing which resulted in some blisters and possible bad four letter words.

*&%@

More bad four letter words followed when we got the bill for our little "weekend project".  Eeekk $164.81 for some wood scraps, ouch!

Out in the parking lot we realized that our giant piece of beadboad might not fit in my car.  Luckily we ended up having about 1/4 inch to spare to close the back hatch after we slid it up against the windshield.

Yep, we were those people!

Things were even safer inside the car not!  We crossed our fingers that we wouldn't get pulled over on the ride home and made a break for it.

Hubby had to try and hold the beadboard up from the headrest so I could try and drive without my ear pressed on my shoulder.  Ouch! Again.. we were those people!

More to come this week.

Do you think we are as crazy as I do?

Music Sunday

The super talented and dreamy Young the Giant

Always Remember...

I absolutely love this canvas print! It just arrived in my mailbox today and will be hanging in my office at work.  It's just like one of my favorite sayings "Keep calm and carry on"!!! but its Lilly Pulitzer themed! This helps me remember to always keep Lilly close to my heart and to always remember to keep a bright outlook on things, just like all of Lilly's clothes! So remember when things are looking bleak, just keep calm and carry/lilly on! 

Adventures in Beadboard Ceilings Part 1

This time last year I was hit with a sudden vision for our downstairs guest bathroom. It first came as a whisper, then a loud scream... beadboard ceiling!!!  Yeah, how in holy heck am I going to convince hubby to make this dream come true. 

 Beadboad ceilings make my heart pitter patter,

make a house a home,

make a bathroom a ....?

After doing some research and blog hunting I came across this post from The House of Smiths detailing how they added such a ceiling to there bathroom.

Inspired check!

Now, how to get hubby inspired?!

One day I just casually sent him the ceiling link and asked him his thoughts for our home.  The rest is history!Here is a tale of one young couple learning to glue and nail things on there ceiling and to live to tell the tale..

More to come.

Do you think we are crazy?

Foodzie Follow Up

Mail call!  It arrived today!!  My free mini tasting box arrived from Foodzie!   I first posted about Foodzie last Thursday (here) and have been anxiously waiting for it to arrive.

Let's break this puppy open!

The suspense!

How cute is this!

My free sampler box came with:

Heart Candy Mix

 Fancifully colored, striped, dotted, filled with hearts, these candies are as tasty as they are pretty.

Almond Fleur De Sel Toffee

Crunchy, organic California almonds stud the toffee, which is made in small batches, and the whole thing is finished off with fleur de sel for a lingering savory finish.

Both items were DELICIOUS!   I am hooked and can't wait for the March box to arrive.

Stop... Stencil Time

KK and I survived stenciling her master bedroom!  As I posted here, this past Friday I jumped in my wagon and made the 2 1/2 hour drive to Richmond to help a bestie in need.  Friday night KK thanked me for my help with a yummy homemade dinner and bottles of red wine.  Saturday morning I woke up in a wine fog and after a breakfast of champions we got to work. 

KK chose the tailfeathers allover stencil from Royal Design Studio.  If besties can survive stenciling a room together we can survive anything, right?!? 

We measured, we prepped, we took a deep breath, we got to work!

Go KK go!

Things were going pretty smoothly when shocker with any home improvement project some unexpected problems came up . Because we were using the same wall stencil over and over a thick layer of paint started to peel off the stencil like a bad sunburn.  We first tried peeling the paint off with our fingers but could never get it all.  We were worried big clumps of paint from the stencil were going to start sticking all over the wall from the paint roller so KK jumped into action with a brilliant solution.

Yep, she washed the damn thing in the tub with a scrub brush!  See the pile of paint on the tub edge, that is what was going to come off on the flipping wall!  I think during the stencil scrub I might have "disappeared" for a few minutes.. shhh I was soo tired at this point.

We dried the stencil with a hairdryer and got back to work.

Problem number two.  Outlets and cable wires that you must deal with as bad as you wish they would go away.  We waited until the entire wall was painted and then cut the stencil up into smaller pieces to work around these annoying little roadblocks. 

We finished about 5 1/2 hours later!!!  Hands down this was a two person job.  While one of us was rolling the big stencil, the other was using a hairdryer to quickly dry the last piece.  While one was using the edge piece the other was using the spray adhesive.  The tailfeather stencil was one of the most intricate I have seen and took a ton of TLC to ensure it was lining up with the patten, etc.

~ Before ~

~ After~

~ Another angle ~

We are soooooo happy with the results!!  When the light hits the paint it creates this beautiful warm golden glow.  We laid in her bed for a while admiring our work as we tried to recover from what had just happened.  Lucky me still had the 2 1/2 hour car ride home.  I was sooo exhausted I drove home in my sock monkey pj's and wore mu sunglasses to protect me from judging drivers.

What do you think of our Saturday handy work?

Party time!
Blah 2 Beautiful, You Are Talking Too Much, Cozy Home Scenes, Be Colorful, A Stroll Thru Life, Home Stories A - Z, Everything Under the Moon, Tip Junkie, Pinkapotamus, Sassy Sites, Strictly Homemade, Raising 4 Princesses, Giggles Glitz & Glam, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Vintage Wannbee, Not Just a Housewife, How to Nest For Less, We Are That Family, Primp, Faded Charm, Very Merry Vintage, Savvy Southern Style, Blue Cricket,, No Minimalist Here, Trendy Treehouse, Tutu & Tea Parties, Ginger Snap, It's Overflowing, Restore, Let Birdz Fly,  Jaqs Studio, Lollipops,

RIP Old Friend

We have another death to report in our home.  First it was our house plant (post here),

now it's our trusted morning companion the Cuisinart coffee maker.  Valentine's day morning it just gave up only after 8 months of morning brews.  Bummer!

RIP old friend

For a replacment I wanted the Viking 12 cup but hubby rolled his eyes and told me to dream on.

Since we are caffine addicts valentine's night was spent trolling the aisles of Target with hubby looking for a replacement.  Romantic I know, not!  After spending over $100 on the Cuisinart and it only to break a few months later we were a little annoyed spending money on a new one. 

We settled on the Black & Decker 12 cup.  With the sticker being only $39.99 on this new beauty we feel less attached if it breaks. 

On shap! Look at that concentration reading the new manual. 

Geeshhh my house looks like a bomb in this pic.

Anyone want to share what appliance kicked the can early in there home?

Feeling Lucky?

Last night at the grocery store with hubby I was feeling a little lucky and picked up a scratch ticket.  I dreamed of all the things I could do with my $100,000 prize.. ahhh!

I won $15.00 not bad.  Now what to do... buy more tickets with the $15.00 or keep my winnings?

Music Sunday

Heart's on Fire by Scars on 45

This has been on repeat at my desk at work all week. 

Enjoy!

Three Day Weekend

Nothing in this world gives me such joy as a three day holiday weekend.  Sunday evening there is magic in the air that can only be described as the magic I felt as a child on Christmas eve.  To celebrate my long weekend I am up visiting my bestie KK in Richmond today as we tackle stenciling a room in her beautiful historic home.  You all should remember KK from my posts here and here.

Tailfeathers Allover Stencil

KK chose the tailfeathers allover stencil from Royal Design Studio.  If besties can survive srtenciling a room togther we can survive anything, right?!?  Can't wait to post pics of how the room turned out soon.

Monday I plan on sleeping in late but maybe just maybe if I play my cards right I just might take some of that three day magic and make my special day off something to really remember.

What are you doing to celebrate the long weekend?

Target Binging

Last Friday night I found myself alone at home with Biscuit.  Hubby was working an overnight shift and with no Redbox movie in hand I accidentally drove myself to Target for some unsupervised shopping. 

My trip was one of those once in a lifetime Target experiences when all the racks were stuffed full with new styles and every size was still to be had.   Coming off my New York Fashion Week addiction all everyone was talking about was "The Pencil Skirt".  Lots of designers hit home runs in the pencil skirt department during NYFW but this little diva in training doesn't have $275 + to drop on one piece of clothing.

check out Chasing Dreams and Apples cute NYFW post here

Target must have overheard the pencil skirt buzz and quickly rolled out there own version for only $17.99!!! I went a little crazy and picked up

 Duchess Blue

Inca Red

Lush Moss

I rocked the Inca red pencil on Valentines day.  The skirt is super comfortable and stretches really easy when you walk/sit making this pencil perfection.

Then I turned the corner into the shoe aisles and sort of lost it.  This is the point of my post if my hubby is ready he might want to stop... hubby please look away.

Pam Rope Wedge w/ Braided Straps Gold

The perfect summer wedge!!!  Only $24.99!!
Oops bought them in black too!

Pam Rope Wedge Black

Then I spotted Teresa and had a fashion meltdown.... how to choose?!?

Teresa Espadrille Wedge
Since hubby wasn't there supervising I accidentally bought them all.  Oopps.. but I'll look damn cute so in my skirts and wedges hubby can't get too mad right...

Ladies run don't walk to your neighborhood Target because they are hitting it out of the park right now.

ps. don't forget to enter to win the Abas digital camera case here