Now that is RED!

We started a new project this week: The Fireplace. It's brick, but has been painted at least twice before. When we moved in, the brick was a pink-y, beige-y color. Not my taste at all. I had painted the wall above the mantle in our old condo a burnt red and really loved it. All of our decor went with it and I just love red as an accent color. So we decided to try it again in the new house.

Here's the fireplace right as we started painting:



Samson watches over us and isn't really sure what to make of it all:



And here's the fireplace after the first coat - Wowsa!



It's showing up a bit brighter in the photos then it really is (I was going for a more burnt, brown-y red), but it is still pretty bright. The Husband put a second coat on last night so it's a little darker/better, but I am just not sure. He also painted the mantle white, so I don't know if that makes the red even brighter or not. Either way, the red really makes the fireplace stand out and look bigger. Before, when it was that pink-y beige, it just kind of blended into the room, because the walls/wallpaper were all beige. Now...not so much.

What do you think?

First of the new year

I hope everyone had a happy and healthy holiday season! It's already been a busy year for me and The Husband.

*Our holidays were amazing, as usual. We both have very giving and generous families and this year was no different. The Husband got a grill from my parents for christmas and his birthday (in January) and then a few smaller things. I received a beautiful Kate Spade ring, an art piece I really wanted, some clothes, ornaments and a lot of other really great things! The Husband gifted me with a Kate Spade bag (which I knew about since I purchased it myself when it went on sale 2 months ago - HA!) and he completely surprised me with a Kindle, especially since I told him the bag was enough. He is so awesome!

*We went up north to spend NYE with my Aunt and Uncle at their lake cottage, along with my cousin and her husband and young son. It was so fun to be up there in the winter (we usually go in the summer) and so relaxing! Cousin and I got a little too tipsy on NYE and there are videos and pictures of us floating around. YIKES! :)

*I was off of work for over two weeks and am just starting to get back into the swing of things. I was supposed to return on 1/4/11, but I had some major pain in my back and, on the morning of 1/4/11 when my husband had to come and help me out of the shower because I was crying in pain, he insisted on taking me to urgent care. So they gave me two shots in the hip and 5 minutes later I was feeling wonderfully better and my body finally stopped clenching in pain and started to relax. I returned to work 2 days later, but still have a little bit of pain on the left side of my back. It's awfully stiff and sore when I wake up in the mornings, but tends to loosen up as I start to move around. I hope it goes away soon.

*The Husband and I are going to the Kid Rock 40th Birthday show this Saturday in Detroit. We tried to get tickets back in Novemeber, but couldn't get them as they sold out in less then 19 minutes. However, The Husband wanted to go so very badly, so I got together with my MIL and we surprised him with two tickets on Christmas day (from StubHub - YUCK! Normally I would never fall prey to such evilness as StubHub, but it was for The Husband and I hate to deny him something he wants so badly. He is such a giver to me and I wanted to give back). Anyway, after weeks of us talking about how we could never pay over 2x the amount of the original ticket price and how he was just getting over the fact that he wasn't going, he opened up 3 boxes to find 2 tickets for him and I and he was FLOORED!! First thing he said to me "I am not very happy with you. You have been lying to me for 3 weeks!" I said "Actually, it's been longer then 3 weeks. I've had the tickets since the Monday after Thanksgiving!" :) Needless to say, he has forgiven me and is super excited!

*I just purchased tickets to see my favorite artist, David Gray, at the Detroit Opera House next month. We got great seats and this show promises to be something completely different then past tours. Mr. Gray wants to make it more intimate, more like a recording session, and I am all for it! I have seen him at least 10 times now, possibly more, and have met him on a few occasions. I have to say, he is brilliant, unique and completely awesome. Check him out if you haven't already!

*The Husband's work is always slow this time of year, so yesterday he found time to rip down the wallpaper that's in our family room so we can hopefully start painting soon. I received a txt from him that read: "I got all the wallpaper down, but found a surprise waiting for me underneath." A minute later, I got another txt from him with a picture of MORE WALLPAPER!!! He was so angry and cursing the inventor of wallpaper. Luckily it came off pretty easily and we now have bare walls waiting to be painted!

I guess that's about all that's been happening in my life. Pretty exciting, no? :)

Our new digs: Christmas edition

Here are the before pictures of the house and the after pictures of what we've done so far. We've painted the 3 bedrooms, painted the kitchen, replaced the floor in the kitchen, pulled out the carpet in the living room to expose the hardwoods underneath, and replaced the carpet in the family room.

Before:















And after, starting with the master bedroom:
























There's still lots of work to be done. After the holidays, we want to take down the wallpaper in the family room and paint the fireplace brick (red) and the walls (a tan color). We also want to paint the living room, foyer, upstairs hallway, 2nd bathroom. We have a HUGE main bathroom that we'd like to update as well. So you can see, lots of projects. Closet doors still need to be painted and hung back up, curtains need to be hung. The biggest project we have in our future is to gut the kitchen and really make use of all the empty wall space and creat a warm, functional gathering place.

Hope you all enjoyed my first house tour. MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Two Posts in one Day?!? It's a Christmas Miracle!

I saw this over at Just a Happy Housewife. I think it's fun! Feel free to fill it out too!

Tag, you're it! A Christmas Meme

1. Hot Chocolate or apple cider?
Hot Chocolate

2. Turkey or Ham?
Definitely Turkey...with gravy, corn pudding, mashed potatoes and green beans. YUM!

3. Do you get a fake or real-you-cut-it-yourself Christmas tree?
Fake. Next year, we hope to get a real one.

4. Decorations on the outside of your house?
YES! My first time ever since moving out of my parent's house almost 10 years ago! I lived in a second story condo for 9 years and now The Husband and I are finally homeowners and can decorate outside - YAY! I wanted to go crazy, but The Husband talked some sense into me and said "No need to do it all the first year." I think he was just afraid of what the neighbors might think :)

5. Snowball fights or sleddin’?
Sledding

6. Do you enjoy going downtown shopping?
Yes

7. Favorite Christmas song?
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

8. How do you feel about Christmas movies?
Adore them. "A Christmas Story" is one of my all-time favorites.

9. When is it too early to start listening to Christmas music?
Is June too early? Just kidding! I usually start to get a hankering for a good christmas carol sometime around the middle of October.

10. Stockings before or after presents?
Before.

11. Go to someone else’s house or they come to you?
Depends. We split the holidays with The Husband's side so every other year we go to my parent's and on the other years, his family has been coming to us.

12. Do you read the Christmas Story? If so when?
I don't usually read it (but I hope to once we have kids) but I usually hear it once or twice each season.

13. What do you do after presents and dinner?
Clean up, have a drink and relax. Listen to chrismtas music and chat with family, watch christmas movies on TV. My favorite thing to do, once everyone leaves, is to turn off all the lights and lay on the couch with my husband in front of the fireplace or the christmas tree and listen to christmas music and just talk with him.

14. What is your favorite holiday smell?
Pumpkin.

15. Ice skating or walking around the mall?
Mall.

16. Do you open a present or presents on Christmas Eve, or wait until Christmas day?
Growing up, we had a family party on Christmas Eve so I would open gifts from aunts and uncles. Everything from my parents and Santa we mostly opened on Christmas morning. However, there were a few years when we wouldn't be home on Christmas morning, so Santa stopped by early on a random night because he knew we'd be gone on Christmas morning.

17. Favorite Christmas memory?
I have a two great memories. One, the year I got my first Cabbage Patch Kid doll. My mom fought tooth and nail for it and I loved her so much! Two, one year when I was a teenager, my family was going to be either up north or on vacation on Christmas Day. My parents took us out to dinner on a random night and we all piled in the car. However, once in the car, my mom said "Hold on a minute, I forgot something..." and went back in the house. Afterward, we went to dinner and came home. We walked into the house and I saw our stockings had been stuffed and the space underneath the tree had been completely filled! Santa had come early, on a Wednesday night!!! We spent hours opening our gifts and enjoying the time together. It was such a magical night and I always remember it.

18. Favorite Part about winter?
The first snow and the month in between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I love that time of year. It's so festive and everyone is always (usually) in such a great mood! There are lots of get togethers with family and friends and lots of laughs.

19. Ever been kissed under mistletoe?
Yes.

Tantilizing Tuesday...on a Friday

So, I already missed my second Tantilizing Tuesday! I am on a roll!

I decided to go with a stocking stuffer theme today. These are some items I would love to see in my stocking on Christmas morning:

World's Largers Reese's Peanut Butter Cups


Holy peanut butter cups, batman! Both The Husband and I are lovers of the Reese's Peanut Butter cups and I just know this would be an awesome treat for us to share. One full pound of chocolate and peanut butter goodness to enjoy between the two of us. YUMMY!!! I've seen them at CVS Pharmacy.

Gift card to Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, Amazon, Borders...just about any store, really. I love gift cards! I know some people don't think they are very good gifts or think that they aren't personal enough, but I disagree. Unless you know exactly what to get or what size to buy, a gift card is a great option. This allows the receiver to pick out anything they want! Plus, it's stress free for the giver. If you want to make it a bit more personal, get it to a store you KNOW the receiver loves, not just some place easy like Target. Go to the clothing boutique or the salon/spa the receiver frequents. You could also wrap it up in a scarf or a cute set of mittens to make it a bit more special.

Tickets to a concert or a broadway show
I love going to concerts and I love theater. This would be such a great stocking stuffer for me. As it is, his mother and I are surprising The Husband with tickets to the Kid Rock 40th Birthday Show in Detroit and he is going to freak!!! We tried getting tickets the day they went out sale, but couldn't get through. The event sold out in under 19 minutes. His mom and I went in together to buy them off a website. Yes, we paid a lot more then we should have and I hate that I had to go through a scalper, but he wants to go so badly. We saw Kid Rock in July of 2009 and it was A. MAZING! So I know he's going to really love and appreciate this gift.

Jewelry
I always think getting jewelry in a stocking is great because it's unexpected. You don't expect "the big gift" to be part of the first thing you look at on Christmas morning (at least in our family). Among the candy, lottery tickets, lipglosses and notepads, you find this beautifuly piece of jewelry that someone picked out for you and it's magical. Just like Christmas should be!

Simply by Clinique perfume
I absolutely adore this perfume by Clinique but it has been discontinued for a number of years now. I have about three bottles at home that I have stock piled. I used to wear this scent every day, but now that I know my time with it is limited, I hoard it. I know you can get it online through Amazon and some other websites (which is how I've ended up with three bottles), but eventually my 3 bottles will be empty and I won't be able to find it online, so anytime someone helps me stockpile my favorite scent, I am a happy girl :) I would also be happy with DKNY Cashmere as well as Chanel Chance. All lovely scents!

Huh. This is a pretty good list I came up with. I should shove it into a pair of The Husband's shoes so he "accidentally" comes across it :)

Tantalizing Tuesday

I've decided to try and start a weekly subject called Tantalizing Tuesday. It will be a list of things/vacations/ideas I am currently loving on or desperately wanting or just just plain loving to look at. Since Christmas is fast approaching, I've decided to come up with a list of things I'd like to see under the tree or in my stocking from Santa :)

1. iPad or Kindle
I would love an iPad, but since we are a non-internet family (haven't had it in years and not sure if/when we are going to get it in the new house. I'm on the computer for 10 hours a day at work, I don't need to be on it at home when I'm with my family, too), a Kindle would probably be better and used more. I'd really be happy with either, I think. However, I'm sure there will come a day when we will have the internet (The Husband thinks we should be one now, he misses iTunes), so the iPad would be more useful then. Such a dilema! :)


2. Martha Stewart Collection Cupcake Carrier
I have started baking a bit more and am just in love with cupcakes. Iw ould like to try my hand at making different kinds and I will need something to transport them so they don't stay at home and get all eaten up by myself and The Husband.

3. Tiffany Mini Twist ring and Paloma Picasso Hammered ring
To wear together - YUM!


4. The Original Christmas Classics DVD Collection
I LOVE all of these classics and would love to be able to watch them whenever I wanted instead of waiting for them on TV!

5. Bose Radio and CD Player
We have a Bose iPod speaker and love it. I would love to get this Bose radio so we can listen to music wherever in the house. It's easy to move from room to room and has amazing sound quality.

6. Kate Spade all wrapped up bow ring
Absolutely love this ring. So pretty!

7. Keep Calm and Carry On print
I want this in red to go in our new home. I love the saying and with my overly active (nice way of saying "ANAL") personality, I think it would calm me down and just remind me to breath and keep moving on.

8. Curtains from Target
LOVE these - love the colors!

9. Keep Calm and Eat Cupcakes t-shirt
I love cupcakes and this shirt is just so cute. Love all the different colors.

10. Converse Chuck Taylor All Star Sparkle Shoes
Sparkles and more sparkles - need I say more? These would be so cute with jeans and black shirts/cute t-shirts.

11. Keep Calm and Eat a Cupcake print
We recently painted our kitchen a very bright, but soft, green. Kind of like a celery/sage/avocado mixed together. This print would be so cute in there! Now if only I could match the greens. What other color would go? We have a few red accents right now, but not sure if those will stay.