Not a project, but something just as exciting! :)

Mr. P's birthday is coming up this Friday. And you know what? I was stumped on what to get him. Usually I like to go all out for his birthday. Just to one up him, naturally. Because I love him. For instance, in the past I've done.

• Filled our living room up with 25 red and white balloons and tied little love notes to them & tickets to the pistons game. (Try driving your grand am down the road with all those in your car. Back and forth, back and forth.)

• Got him and a friend tickets to the lions game.

• Booked us a week long birthday/anniversary trip to the Dominican Republic. (This, I got in trouble for. But, it was booked. Too late ;)...)

• Gave him a wallet and filled it with gift cards for things he likes, i.e Burger king, Mc D's Taco Bobs, and a couple clothing places and barber shops. This one, I loved. Plus I added pictures of me. Of course.

This year though. This year.. I happened to find out that this guy was coming to a city near me.

This girl, pulled some strings.

and got this guy 4th row tickets to his show!

FOURTH ROW. I'm We're going to be close enough to jump on stage like a mad woman wave..talk to..touch the guy.. Okay you know what I mean. Dirty minds.

And just so you know, Mr. P loves him just as much as I do. This wasn't at all for me. He's going to love it. It's just a perk that I will love it more equally as much.




Um, just so you know. If I do get on stage and meet Mr. Cook, he was in a movie with Kate Hudson, & in 6 degrees terms.. that would mean I know her too. Serious. I can tell we're already going to be bffs.





[Mother in law. This is to you. Sister in law. This is to you. Do NOT tell Mr. P. I repeat, Do Not tell Mr. P. We've only got 6 days girls, we can do it. It'll be hard, but we can do it. We're a team in this... Go team on 3.....1.2.3 Go Team secrets!]

When my hair said, "Stop.Now".

When I bleached my hair to the brink of falling out. My hair said, "Stop now".

When it was 9:00 pm and I was bored and grabbed a box of light ash brown. My hair said,

"Stop now".

When it turned gray because of too much ash, my hair said, "Stop now".

When I asked my bff to go get me a box of highlights at 10:00 to undo what I did, my hair said, "Stop now".

When said highlights turned white, my hair said, "Stop now".

When I asked bff to yet again go to the store to get deep brown to cover up my mistakes at 12:30 a.m my hair said, "Stop now".

When my hair turned green, my hair said, "Stop now".

When I called the salon and they were booked, my hair said

"Told you so".

How do you say goodbye?

What do you do when you absolutely LOVE your house but it's time to move on? What do you say to her when NO ONE since 1940 has updated her or loved her until you came along? All those nights painting over the thick shiny lime green paint throughout the house. The time and effort giving her comfortable warm floors for children to play on and dogs to snuggle up and snore on. The sad attic that didn't get to see the light of day, who was waiting for a two princess' to call their home. The one tiny bathroom that just needed a little push in the right direction for some hot water.




Work, that's all she needed. We knew that, we accepted her. And now, how am I supposed to tell her it's over? That I only can hope the next family to move in will care as much as we did. That they can bring their babies home from the hospital and know they'll be safe here. Play here, walk to preschool from here. Swing in the yard, play in the sprinkler. Have picnics in the living room and baths in the kitchen sink. That as many fights that will be had in this house, as many times one will storm out in a fit of anger-- they'll always come back, here. Home.




How to I console her when people come through to see her, critiquing her. Judging her. Poking at her every flaw, changing her. What if people don't see what I see? The perfect little house that could.be.everything to someone. The pride that we had when we first got the keys. Our piece of the country. All ours. Would someone else care as much? Will anyone want her like we did? What if she sits on the market, rejected. Trying with all her might to show people her true potential. Not just a house, but a real- Home.




That's all she wanted to be. She waited for the perfect family to come in and help her shine. She waited 60 years for someone to love her, really love her. What do I say? How do you break up with your house? How do you leave your home.

How do I tell her it's not her. It's me.

Price My Space 2

I'm joinin' Nester's Price my Space again! This go around though, we're lookin' at my budget kitchen remodel.

Everything in this kitchen is new.

Well, I lied. Our appliances were here and the dishwasher is used but it's new to us. We were being green. :)

1. Cabinets. We bought all unfinished cabinets from Home Depot. Sanded and painted and sanded and painted. This was the biggest chunk of change for us, around 900.00 I think- give or take. But really a STEAL compared to custom cabinets.

2. The counter top. We chose good ol' laminate mainly because it was an affordable option for us. 400.00 installed. Can't go wrong there.

3. Flooring. The floor is just peel & stick tiles. I know, I know. A lot of people hate it, but ya know what? They don't live here! :) We bought the tile for the kitchen when we first moved in thinking that we'd rip it up when we gutted the place but, come to find out I got the tile for the dining room right before it was discontinued for something like .3 cents a tile. 7.00 a box? Thank you, I'll take my peel and stick any day! I bought all the boxes they had left. Ya know just in case I want to run the tile up my walls. Never know.


4. Curtain.. Piece of scrap from my bench project. Because I used the fabric for another project before this, I'm considering it free. I barely had enough, I want to run some ribbon along it but for now it'll do.

5. The stools, oh...lovely Target stools! 19.99 for one, 13.99 for the other. And, say 3.00 for some heirloom white spray paint.

6. Accessories. My lovely flowers (To sit on my dirty table, thank you.) Free. The delivery man uh.. delivered them, this morning for my our Anniversary. Wonder who sent those!?

7. My dining room table. This lil' guy came from Miejer. Ya I know? A grocery store! ha, I actually found one I wanted at a furniture store JUST.LIKE.THISONE for 900.00! But, Mr. P vetoed that and in my fury of not fulfilling my buying need, I found this one at the store and bought it for 200.00 & 10% off (Santa bucks! Yay!) I scored big time. I would love something bigger, and not pub style but at the time it was just what I wanted. So far for 180.00 we've gotten our moneys worth.

Let's run down the whole room start to finish

Cabinets 900.00

Counter top 400.00

New drywall for the dining room 200.00

Flooring & Trim 50.00

Paint 100.00

Lighting 100.00

Sink & faucet 200.00 (Totally scored and bought clearance!)

Table & Bar stools 220.00

Total: 2170.00

Definitely a steal of a kitchen. Considering everything we had to do to get it to look this way, it's well worth it. We had a budget of 1800.00 and really, we stayed very close to that budget. Since we had the table, most of the flooring and accessories before hand.

Go check out the before and during here, here and here!

Thanks for stopping by! Come back soon!

9.99 Painters canvas drop cloth.

I bought another pair of drop cloths to make curtains for my bedroom. But my couch was calling my name.

"Rachelle, cover me. Please!" So, I listened. I just draped it on and tucked a bit. Didn't iron. Didn't staple. You know why? Because it doesn't matter. It was a 47 second fix. I covered up the print and made it a thousand times better. Hopefully whoever buys my house isn't buying it for my ironing skillz.. If they are, I am S-C-R-E-W-ED!

Pillows- free. Side table- free. Lamp from my living room- free. Everything in this room was something I already had lying around. Loves it!

I told you I'd clean up this weekend! I did! I moved all the movies from our entertainment stand and put them down here. Two reasons for this.

1. It left open not one, but four drawers for me to throw toys in when someone wants to come for a showing and I don't have time to organize all the 1000000 Polly pockets we have lying around.

2. It helped me cover up these stupid built ins. A little bit of staging never hurt anyone right?

The Barry Sanders poster was my husband's idea. I had to let him have a little input in the room. That was it. Go hubs! Go on with your bad self!

And did I mention the best part- all free!

Mr. & Mrs. Highschool crush turned fate est. 2006

Mr. Perfect.

That you are.

Thank you for putting up with all my habits.

For always ordering boneless wings, even though you prefer with the bone. (Ew)

For opening my car door, still.

For shutting the dresser drawers that I continually leave open, and just shaking your head and walking away.

For never checking out another woman in front of me. :)

For trusting in me when I tell you I painted something in the house black, or red, or blue, pink purple or even yellow.

For calling me religiously at 10:00 on the dot nightly.

For loving my friends.

For loving my tries at cooking.

For loving The Notebook as much as I do.

I promise I won't tell anyone you cried during the ending.

Thank you for being you. For being the father of my children. For giving me butterflies after so many years together. For allowing me to be a stronger person because you're behind me in everything I do.

I love you.

8*18*06

What to do with black paint at 11:00 P.M

So, when I get bored because Mr. P is gone during the week and my insomnia kicks in...This happens.

You take this ugly ugly built in cabinet and take some black paint and go to town.


Uh, I know right?




So how many weeks went by? Oh that's right a whole ton of weeks. That's how many.


I fixed it.




::Applaud::



Thank you, thank you!




Anywho. I primed it with spray paint and then went over it again with the paint I used on my outside doors. It needs another coat, you'll see why.




In certain lights you can see spray paint strokes. That means you're spraying to close. Don't Do That!


I then took off the ratty old 80's..70's..60's type hardware, whatever it may be. It was basically just ugly. Sorry old homeowners, but it was.


2 dollars a pop at H.D. Nice! Now it looks lovely and let me say.. It's making me keep it organized. Seriously, it's making me. Threats and all. Look, it wants you to peek inside...


It's okay, I know you want to. I didn't even clean it for the photo. It's been like this all week!

Barstool upgrade.

19.99 29 inch bar stool from Target (One was actually 13.99 because it was a restock, SCORE!)

Check

Two cans of heirloom white spray paint.

Check

One eager helper

Double check

Black sharpie

Check

Fixing my plain Jane bar stools= love.

[Notice the new trim in the dining room. Yes, it's true. I finally have trim. It's been since February. It's up. I love it, I could probably lick it.]

Oh yah, I just went there.

I'm participating, are you? :)

My scary basement remodel.

Remember this?




Shudder.. Scary right? Well the view just got a little bit a lot better. 1. Old supposed to be white walls. Gone. Now a lovely green. Albeit a little dark but, oh well. I saw it and said, "hello green, I love you, want to come home with me?" Yes I move a tad too fast. 2. Dirty green/blue cat peed on carpet. Gone. Clean, soft with some REAL padding underneath. Look the the fresh vacuum marks, ahh. Gives me chills.








Look the dog crate is still there. And look who joined, Hulk Hogans up there napping. Ahh well I'll clean it tomorrow. Maybe. :)

So, after a week of ENDLESS painting. I love it. It looks clean, smells clean, feels clean. The carpet was a .75 cent stock brand at Home Depot and we paid for it and got it installed in 72 hours. Lovely when your working with a strict schedule. The bathroom's painted and is waiting for accessories. Hopefully someone will see it as a cute playroom like I would- eh.. if I wanted to stick around here. :)

I'm joining in Metamorphasis Monday @ Between naps on the porch!! Go check out the other lovely ladies and their before and afters!

Hiatus..over.

I'm back! Still trying not to be the angry woman that is inside me. But, it could have been worse right? Right! The cops are however, becoming my BFF's since some hoodlum boys decided to "hang" in front of my house on Friday while I was at work and Mr. P was at softball. I feel like every teenager is taunting me. I need help! We asked the sunny mart (Holler.) down the street to keep an eye out for some kid with oh, 200.00 in singles- he said we weren't the only one who got "hit" that night. Hm. Ridiculous.


ANYWAYS- that is behind us. Breath Rachelle. It's over. It's just money. Just my phone. All replaceable.

The house looks marvelous ya'll! I want you to see it so bad! And you will if Noelle will bring her camera over tonight (hint hint) It's so lovely. Shampooed carpets, new fresh paint. New artwork. It's lovely. Hopefully Too bad we won't get to enjoy it much. That is, I hope someone else falls in love with it as I did. :)

So, sorry for the break this weekend, but thethingthatwe'renotmentioninganymore just took all of my energy and good vibes. But I'm back and I have a gorgeous DIY project coming Thursday! Hopefully some pictures of the house- sneaks really. I want to do the big reveal on Saturday! Be there or be square!

For now, I have to take the bottle blonde out of my hair before it fries off! :) Happy Tuesday!

We interrupt the remodels for a letter.

We interrupt the scheduled blog remodel post for a letter.

Dear, Boy/man/scum who broke into my car last night.



Hello. I noticed you were confused last night and thought my car..in my own driveway.. sometime between the hours of 12am-6am...was your car. As funny as this seems, you were wrong! Silly you.



I also noticed you took my purse... With all my credit cards, phone, charger, checks, id, photos of my lovely children. I mean, you must have thought it was yours because you took it with you? Confusion, totally understandable.


Thank you however for barely shutting the door and not slamming it so that we could continue sleeping soundly in what we thought was a safe neighborhood. Definitely eases my mind knowing you wont wake me and/or my children while we sleep at night if you ever decide to break into my house- at least you'll be quiet. Thanks.



Even greater thanks for throwing my purse in the dog park down the street. AFTER taking all my items out of it and tossing them randomly in a park- for all to see. It must have not been your style purse huh? Too bad, it matched my phone lovely. Speaking of phone..I noticed you kept my pink, girly girl phone? Do you like it? I know I sure did!


Too bad those girls picked all my stuff that you left, and brought it to me huh? You may or may not have decided to go back and get it! Shoot!

Oh and, hopefully you can enjoy the 200.00 that you took out from my wallet. I'm a waitress, so of course I carry singles with me 98% of the time. I was gonna use it to pay my bills this month.. But hey, you must have needed the money more than me huh?



So again, sorry for all the confusion. Enjoy your disconnected pink phone and my bills money your 200.00. Maybe we'll see you around the neighborhood sometime. One can only hope.



Sincerely,

Rachelle.. the girl with the black Explorer, at the white house.. oh wait you know that. Silly me.

Scary..

In addition to my new blinds....

Which, let me tell you I'm sitting in front of rightthisminute and adoring them.

I also had a few other projects this week to finish before Friday..Hmm.. Mr. P even stayed home this week to help me make sure they got finished, it's THAT important. :)

Here's something we just started tackling Sunday night.

Oh, and don't judge me. We haven't done one.single.thing. to this space since we moved in. It was said to be a lost cause. And, really.. still is. The drywall wasn't cured enough and is cracking, the previous owner had a cat- who clawed and pee'd a lot. It's humid and...gross- there I said it. I hate it down there. But hopefully I won't have to look at it much longer..Hmm.. ;)

Here we go... Don't be scared!

Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you.. Watch out for that support beam.

See that red paint on the floor? Yeah, I painted my bench there. THAT'S how much I don't care about this nastay carpet. :)

Please excuse the Chihuahua that's mooning you right now. He's such a trouble maker.

Silly little built ins that don't hold ANYTHING. besides a dog crate, art from my dining room that wont get hung back up, a locker shelf from highschool, dust, spiders, and my old paintings Pointless.

Built in desk that could have been cute. But to be completely honest with you all. Sunday was the first day we ever opened the drawers.

We found some yarn.

Lots and lots of yarn.

Oh huge blue door, how I loathe thee.
This is the door to our furnace. Ugh, just ugh.

Now, I know you're all jealous of my zebra couch and all, and if you can peel your eyes off it to see the room, can you see how HORRIBLE it is? Seriously ya'll. It's bad.

Think it can be something new and improved with some paint? New carpet? New lights?

I do.

Come back tomorrow! We shall see!