Erin, Author at The Sunny Side Up Blog

home decor 2

08.15.11

Kitchen shelf re-do!

I’m so excited to share my newly painted and decorated kitchen shelf with you all! I didn’t take many pictures along the way since this was my first time painting a piece of furniture and I was in total concentration mode. I did manage to take one picture of the shelf on a blanket in my garage before I started painting it…

And here it is after I painted the shelf white and the bead board the same color as the newly painted wall….

So are you ready for the final before and after?

BEFORE

and AFTER!!!

So what do you think!!?? Better? Worse? Something in between!? I have to say that I love the change because I am SO tired of all of the red and black in my house. I’ve been in the mood for something a little lighter and brighter for a while now.

Most of the shelf decor I shared with you earlier, but I’ll break down where I bought everything. These mini pitchers are from Home Goods.

Little spice jars are from Anthropologie. They were so small I needed something behind them. These yellow bird plates from Pier One were perfect!

White pitcher from TJ Maxx. I’ve been collecting white pitchers forever now. LOVE them.

Milk bottle measuring cups from Anthro. Blue bowls to the left of them are from Home Goods.

And the cups and bowls to the right are also from Anthro. I may switch out the blue/green bowls because they are so similar to the paint color.

Speaking of this paint color…. I get the biggest kick out of it! Sometimes it looks more blue.

And sometimes it looks like aqua. Either way – I’ll take it!

Now the only problem is that the rest of my kitchen doesn’t exactly coordinate with my shelf. My plan with decorating is always to first pick a color scheme I like and then slowly incorporate those colors into the rest of my house. It’s always fun to shop for things you love in your colors (or go nuts with spray paint!). I’m excited to make the rest of my house look more like this shelf!

But that’s a project for another day. :)

**Partying at these blogs:
Between Naps on the Porch
Tidy Mom
Sweet Little Gals
Perfectly Imperfect

xoxo, Erin

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fashion2

08.12.11

Fashion Friday

Alright! Here we go! Another Fashion Friday. Can I get a woot woot!!

First of all – these are my absolute summer staples. I think I’ve worn these yellow shoes (bought them last summer) and these earrings (Forever 21) at least 3-4 times each week. They just go with everything – dressy or casual – and they seem to call out SUMMER. Love them.

Here’s a random picture in a not so amazing outfit, but I’m once again wearing the shoes and earrings. These shorts are also a summer staple of mine and have been for the last few years. I need to update them, but they are True Religion and the most I have ever spent on any one article of clothing (if Kenny only knew! He’d die!) so I definitely wanted to get my money out of them! And I think I have.

And it’s about time to retire them. But I have loved these shorts.

Here’s my favorite fashion accessory lately. My cute friend Amy bought me this key chain for my last birthday (ordered from an etsy shop) and I have been so in love with it. First, I love the color. I’m always wearing this color – it’s a favorite. Second, this key chain makes it so easy to find my keys in my purse. Can’t miss them with this on! Third, it has come in so handy to have my keys on my wrist because I’m always holding Kole. I keep them on getting him in and out of the car and I always have my keys with me. Genius! Thanks again Amy!

Speaking of my favorite clothing color, here is a new dress I just bought from the Limited.

It’s simple. I like simple. Notice we are all three sporting our yellow sandals. Fabulous.

I also really like the ruffles and gathers at the top. What I don’t like is the lighting in this bathroom.

Found this cream top for Fall while I was in Utah last week. My sister-in-law saw it and said “oh that is so you!” And she is so right. I probably own 10 other tops just like this. I LOVE cream in the fall.

But wait — it’s missing something…

my Anthro belt please! Add some skinny jeans and Fall boots and this is perfect.

An Erin outfit for sure.

Bought this fun sweater at Down East. It’s cropped so I’ll probably wear it with a white tank under it. It was only 30 bucks! And I was so excited! But also ashamed…

since it is SO similar to this yellow sweater I bought from Anthropologie for our family pictures that was NOT only 30 bucks. I need to do the Down East thing a little more and the Anthro thing a little less. :)

Here’s my favorite thing I’ve bought lately. I’m so in love with this skirt! I’m sure you can’t guess why…um…it’s cream….and it has a belt. I’m nothing if not predictable.

And here I am modeling the skirt – only because several of you requested that I do so. The skirt is from a store called Urban Wear in sunny St. George, UT and the shirt is from Forever 21. The shoes are Guess and I’ve had them for years and I can’t live without them.

Another favorite thing about this skirt is the pockets. Because well. Pockets on skirts are just cool.

Grabbed my girl to pose with me. She was running around on the rocks at the time of this mini photo shoot.

And last but certainly not least, a new outfit I picked up for the main squeeze in my life.

I fell in love with these shorts…

and this shirt….(Gymboree)

and these tiny adidas shoes.

Who said buying clothes for boys isn’t as fun!!?

I’ll have to take a picture of my little dude in his new outfit.

I’m sure he’ll be SO cooperative to model it for me.

BTW – Did you all watch the season finale of SYTYCD? It was SO GOOD! I cried at the end!!! Kenny and I had the winner picked from day one. She was amazing. We’ve also bought our tickets to the live show and picked up two extra tickets to take friends.

Can I get a woot woot!!

Happy Friday everyone!

p.s. Linking up at Pleated Poppy today!

xoxo, Erin

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Food and Cooking...or lack thereof

08.11.11

Fun finds

I took a picture today of a few little things I picked up while I was in Utah. I’m still unpacking from our trip – and probably will be for a week because I’m such a serious over packer (but you just never know what you might need…right!?).

-Found this fun little owl plate for Halloween – isn’t he cute!? I can’t believe Halloween stuff is starting to appear in stores already. But here I am buying it. What a hoot.

-My trusty one-inch Conair curling iron. A whopping $9.99 from Target. Love this thing. I can’t guarantee that it won’t fry your hair and I can’t guarantee that at some point it won’t break. But it’s cheap to replace and it curls my hair better than all of my expensive curling irons that have been collecting dust ever since I bought this little beauty for our ten year anniversary trip to Italy.

-Also while in Target I stocked up on my favorite spray on tan (Neutrogena). I just spray a little on my legs every few days in the summer so they don’t blind anyone. Any other fair skinned friends out there?

This stuff is great. Doesn’t streak (I rub it in even though it says you don’t need to) and it looks for the most part like a real tan (not that I would know what a real tan looks like).

-Cute letter “E” sticky notes from Anthropologie.

Bought by my mom. Thanks mom! They will hold many happy little to-do’s. :)

Costco run today. I bought most of the usual stuff. Cheese and crackers for the kids. Popcorn and sugar snap peas for me, strawberries and cuties for all of us. A rotisserie chicken for an easy dinner. I buy one every time I go because I always get so frustrated when I go to Costco and drop $200 bucks like it’s nothing and then come home and wonder what in the world we’re going to eat for dinner!!? The chicken makes me feel better. :) Shampoo and conditioner for the girls. My sister always gave me a hard time for using expensive hair products for my girls so last time I was in Costco I picked up some cheap-o Kirkland brand for them to try. LOVE IT! We always get compliments on how good their hair smells! Even Kenny likes it better than my salon stuff. Go figure. Carly – I guess you maybe had a point there. Also bought and not pictured, diapers, wipes, paper towels…

and of course toilet paper. All of the essentials!

What about you? What are your go to Costco items? Anyone else smelling like a rose because of Kirkland shampoo or shopping for Halloween items in August?

p.s. Post for tomorrow night — Fashion Friday or my newly painted and decorated shelf??? Or after this enthralling post are you dying to see what I buy at the grocery store each time I go? ;)

xoxo, Erin

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home decor 2

08.10.11

digital scrapbooking, paint, and a spot of tea

Hi friends! First of all – thanks for your words of encouragement about Kole and his preference concerning transportation. :) Makes me feel better to hear about other late walkers.

I wanted to answer a couple of questions from my picture organizing post…

Bindi asked if I have any suggestions for backing up photos?

We used to use an internet service called Mozy that automatically backed up our pictures. But Mozy raised their rates around the time I got my new Mac, so we decided to just start saving our pictures to an external hard drive. We use the Apple program (Time Machine) that came with my Mac and it has worked great so far.

Andrea e-mailed me with this question:

Hey Erin! I love your blog. I saw today’s post about organizing pictures and that you have a folder for digital scrapbooking. I am looking to do more with digital elements and would love to see a blog post on how you organize your digital elements and how you end up using them. I have been following Ali Edwards and love her digital scrapbooking and want to start incorporating her elements into my Project Life album, but would love your perspective

Thanks Andrea! Here is how I organize my digital elements. First a peek inside my “digital scrapbooking supplies” folder:

And a peek inside my “specific elements” folder:

And a peek inside my “word art” folder: (just to pick a random one)

Everything is organized just like my pictures. Folders inside of folders. At one point I was contemplating going completely digital with my scrapbooking, but at the end of the day, digital scrapbooking just isn’t as fun for me. I love REAL supplies and REAL pictures and to be honest, I get tired of my computer! It’s why I’m never on facebook. I love to blog and to read other blogs, but I don’t enjoy being on my computer all day. Digital scrapbooking felt more like a chore vs. the fun, creative outlet that paper scrapbooking is for me. So I pretty much just use all of the supplies I’ve purchased/collected for other random things. Here are a few examples:

{a stamp in the corner of a picture collage}

{some pretty brushes to add a little something to the bottom of pictures}

(I so remember this trip! I was pregnant with Kole and starting to really show and so bummed I couldn’t buy clothes. Maternity clothes stopped being fun after child #2.)

{words and a frame}

{stitched frame around a collage}

{a frame, date, and stamp}

{frames and other little elements}

All of the above pictures and collages have ended up in my Project Life scrapbooks. I use my digital supplies once in a while to jazz up photos/collages.

And of course, for all of my blog headers. (Ok – that just made me SO excited for Christmas!)

Hope that helps Andrea!

But lately I haven’t been scrapbooking. Lately I’ve been painting!

I painted my black shelf! Eeek!!! It was an experience to say the least. But it’s finished and I love the way it turned out and at some point I will get around to sharing pictures of it. I painted it before our trip to Utah and returned to one MESSY garage. I have to just say that my limited experience with spray paint has made me not a fan (remember my baskets?). And I don’t think it’s as easy as every one makes it appear! All of these “before and after” blog pictures that make it look like you just quickly spray a little paint and wa-la! New beautiful furniture! Not so. At least for me. I spray painted the outside of the shelf and hand painted the bead board backing and I had such a better experience with the regular paint and brush. I feel more in control of what I’m doing and created much less of a mess with the regular paint. Plus it’s easier for touch-ups. But I’ve found that I paint about as well as I cook so who am I to talk? Hope I’m not offending any spray painting digital scrapbookers out there by spouting off about my preferences! ;) Anyway. The shelf is done and I’m happy with it. Just wasn’t happy with the mess I made in the process.

So today after I unpacked from our trip, I pulled almost everything out of our garage…

and mopped up all of that spray paint dust! And then I felt much better about spray painting. And about life in general. Because cleaning does that to me.

I mopped, Kole slept, and the girls enjoyed a little tea party on a towel. It was a great afternoon.

Cheers! :)

xoxo, Erin

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Kole

08.09.11

Mini va-cay (splash pad)

Back from a mini va-cay today! The kiddos and I spent last week at our little retreat —

(aka mom’s house) in southern Utah. We had a great trip. It was HOT. So we spent a lot of our time in the house or in the water.

I hung out a lot with my sister-in-law Dayna – we always have so much fun together. Here we are at the splash pad with our boys. They were both SO excited to have their picture taken.

My mom joined us on her lunch break. Her lunch break ended up being a little longer than usual since it also involved running home to change her clothes. (Click the above pics to see them better. The look on my mom’s face is classic.)

Dayna with Addie and my sweet nephew Drew. Every picture I took of Ellie was a total blur because she was running through the water so fast. My girls LOVE the splash pad.

Kole loves the splash pad too. He even found a buddy this time. A twin with matching hat and all. Which one is my boy? The one who STILL isn’t walking. Yup. That would be my Kole. The one sitting on his little bottom. Totally content to watch his twin do a happy we’re the same age and I’m walking dance right in front of him.

Operation “get Kole walking” has been taking place for months now.

As you can see, we’re making major progress.

Major. Lucky for him, his inability to walk doesn’t seem to slow him down much.

He climbs like no one’s business…

and has no problem keeping up with his sisters.

So even though his younger cousin (and every other baby his age) is running circles around him, we’re not too worried. Guess he’ll walk when he’s good and ready. He’s just too cool for walking right now.

In the meantime, he keeps grandma and the rest of us on our toes.

Isn’t the tabernacle beautiful!? I love my home town. I have to repeat that last sentence to myself over and over when I visit in the summer and trade my usual 75 degree weather in for a nice and toasty 110 degrees.

BUT.

This beautiful carousel is a new fixture next to the splash pad and the girls and I couldn’t wait to try it out.

It was as delightful as we had anticipated. Heat and all.

Good times.

So – tomorrow will be a nice reality check. Unpacking, laundry, groceries, cleaning… the day after a vacation is always a busy one. But it still feels good to be home.

And back to 75 degrees. :)

xoxo, Erin

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Kole

08.05.11

Not Fashion Friday

I. am. exhausted. This week has been crazy. And fun. Crazy fun. I have so much to blog about and it is killing me that I don’t have time to do it! If only I didn’t need to sleep. But I do need to sleep. (Clearly I need to sleep or I wouldn’t be rambling on this way…)

I know some of you asked questions about my last post and I will answer them. Some of you requested more Fashion Fridays and I will get around to doing that and answering questions that were asked last week. Some of you requested that I start modeling the clothes for Fashion Friday and that won’t happen. Well. Maybe it will. I just feel like such a dork taking self portraits! And Kenny isn’t around enough to take pictures of me. Although he makes me feel like an even bigger dork so it’s not like that’s a great solution anyway. So then it’s left up to Ellie and you may remember what happens when she gets a hold of my camera? Fashion Friday content – to be determined. But I do have lots to share! Including some cute stuff I got this week. I just want you to know if you’ve asked a question in the comments I will get around to answering it at some point. I have a lot to post. I’m just too tired to do much tonight.

Did I already mention that?

And did I mention that I was tired?

Summer camps ended last week. My girls had SO much fun. We don’t start school until the end of August so still a month left of summer for us! Can I handle one more month of summer? That’s also to be determined. I am starting to think about back to school though. I need to find my girls some cute backpacks. Thinking about ordering these soon –

Pottery Barn Kids Fairfax Collection. I can’t find anything I like better and I’ve been hunting in stores and on-line for a couple of weeks now. Any other suggestions?

Well – that’s it for me. I’m off to bed. Before I know it, a certain someone will be up and going and full of more energy than I can handle!

Have a good weekend everyone!

xoxo, Erin

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organization2

08.03.11

Organizing pics on the computer

Hi everyone! I thought today I’d share how I organize my pictures on my computer. You may remember that I ended my relationship with iphoto a while back. As much as I have loved my new Mac, I just couldn’t ever figure out a system on iphoto that worked as good for me as the system I have been using for years. And that’s the thing about organization. It’s really just about finding what works best for YOU. So I went back to my old system. And I have fallen in love with my old system all over again because I had a chance to see what else was out there. And it’s so true that you never really realize what you have until it’s gone. {tear}

(I can just hear Kenny singing Aladdin’s “A Whole New World” right now. He sings that song to me whenever I say anything even remotely sappy.)

Moving on.

I know this system won’t work for most (maybe even all!) of you, but it may give you a few ideas of how to organize your pictures – especially if you share a lot of your pictures on your blog. Which I do. :) So here’s what works for me:

When I open the folder on my computer marked “PICTURES” multiple folders pop up:

(**If my pictures of these folders are hard to read, just click on them to make them bigger)

I use a simple folder system for organizing all of my pictures. I love folders. My brain likes to see things laid out this way. On the first row, I have a folder for each year. Then under those folders, I have random folders for pictures that are grouped together for a certain purpose (Project Life pictures for the girls, Kole’s scrapbook, Digital Scrapbooking supplies, etc.)

Now let’s click on the folder “2011” —

Inside the folder for each year, I have a folder for each month. At the top I also have a folder called “pictures to organize.” When I download my pictures (I usually do this each night because I take pictures every day) all of the pictures go straight into this folder. I don’t have time each night to organize all of my pictures, so this folder is a resting spot for my pictures, but not their final destination.

Now let’s click on the folder “July” —

Inside each month I have one folder for blog posts and one folder marked “randomness” which is basically just every picture for that month that I want to keep but don’t end up posting. It works the best for me to organize my pictures by blog posts because that is how my brain remembers where my pictures are located. If I want to develop a picture of Kole brushing his teeth for his scrapbook, I remember that I did a post called “copy cat” with pictures of my little man brushing in July of 2011. If I can’t remember the exact month, I just pull up my blog and the date I posted will tell me where that picture is stored.

Now let’s click on the folder “July Blog Posts” —

Here I have a folder for each post I did this month (in order). I try to be specific about what pictures are in each folder to help me find pictures in the future.

Now let’s click on the folder of my previous post titled “Lots of Stuff” —

All of the pictures from my last post! And that is where my folders finally stop! I know. It’s folders, inside of folders, inside of folders… but this system has worked for me for so long. I just love having my pictures so nice and tidy in their happy little spot where they belong. :)

This system also makes things easy for me when I’m about to develop pictures for my kids’ scrapbooks. If I’m working on Addison’s book for the months May through August, I just go through each blog post folder for those months and each month’s “random” folder and pull any pictures that I want for her book. I move them to the folder on my main page called “PROJECT LIFE”, make any collages I need to and then send them off to be developed.

BTW – some of you have asked me how my albums are coming along since I haven’t been posting pics of them. Well, they’re not. I had great ambitions of getting so much done this summer and now I’m laughing at myself for even thinking that would happen! This summer has been so busy. But it’s ok. I’d rather spend this time making memories with my kids. I’ll record those memories later when they’re back in school. I’ll also shower, prepare meals, and do laundry when they’re back in school. A few other things that have also taken a back seat this summer!

So I’d love to hear your thoughts! What works for you with picture organization? Anyone do anything similar to what I do? No? Am I the only crazy folder lady out there?

I can live with that. :)

xoxo, Erin

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home decor 2

08.01.11

Lots of stuff

Just a glimpse of what we’ve been up to lately…

Lots of coloring

Lots of lemon picking

Lots of hot dog grilling

Lots of climbing

Lots of decorating –

by the girls…

and by their mom

Lots of painting (now that I’ve done the wall I’m kind of obsessed)

Lots of organizing (always obsessed) – afters coming soon

Lots of curls cut off (don’t be fooled by the picture above – what’s left is still awfully curly!)

Lots of fun in the sun

and of course…

Lots of capturing it all on camera

xoxo, Erin

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fashion2

07.29.11

Fashion Friday

I received several e-mails asking where I got the cute beach/snack bag in my previous post. The bags are from a company called Thirty One Gifts and I received them when I did this giveaway. You can check that post for their website along with information about who to contact if you want to order one for yourself. Also, a sweet blog reader and director with Thirty One Gifts (hi Allison!) left a comment in my last post along with her information because she too sells their bags. Thirty One Gifts sells a lot of really fun stuff!

Speaking of fun stuff, I thought I’d share a few things I’ve bought lately. Fall fashion is my absolute favorite and since I haven’t bought much the past two years (due to pregnancy and post pregnancy baby weight that lingered forever!) I decided that it was time to get a jump start on this year’s Fall wardrobe!

These necklaces I actually bought about a month ago and have loved wearing them this summer. The one on the left with the matching bracelet is from The Limited and the one on the right was from a specialty shop here in San Diego.

I love the orange/teal color combo in this one.

This shirt from Banana Republic looks great with both necklaces. I’ve worn this shirt a ton this summer! It fits cute and I love the pleated sleeves. Works with most of my jewelry, levi, or white skirts/shorts. A casual ‘go to’ top for sure.

This necklace also looks good with this white dress shirt I just bought (also from The Limited).

I guess this top is actually an end of summer splurge vs. fall fashion. But I loved the way it fit so much that it had to come home with me. :)

Some fun flats I bought at the Nordstroms sale (for only $50 bucks!). Should be perfect for running the kids around all day. I don’t buy many shoes like this because my heels are SO narrow. If my shoes don’t have straps they slip right off my heels and drive me crazy. I’m a big fan of flats like this that gather in the back!

Another fun top from The Limited. I have too many shirts this color, but I loved the sleeves and the way this fit.

I wore it to church last week with this black belt, a fun skirt, and my favorite black heels (that are so high I have to really watch it holding Kole so we both don’t go toppling to the floor).

But the two of us were stylin’! :)

This grey cardigan was a bit of a splurge (also from The Limited) but it is my favorite thing I’ve bought lately! You can’t tell from the picture, but it fits so cute – fitted in the back and then it hangs long in the front. I tried it on with a white tank underneath, my dark Joes skinny jeans,

and these boots. LOVE it! I’ll have to take a picture with it on sometime because it’s way cuter on a person than on the hanger.

I found this purple sweater on sale at Anthropologie. Can you tell that I’m into solid colors by this point? Kind of boring, I know. But I just love stuff like this.

This sweater has a fun, funky orange zipper in the back that you can’t see at all when I’m wearing it. But I know it’s there. And it will make me FEEL fun and funky. :)

So far, this belt (also from Anthropologie) is the only purchase I’m having buyers remorse about. It was 55 bucks – a bit much for a belt – but I just love it so much!!! But then I got home and thought “will I really wear it enough…. I already have so many belts…. I could take it back and buy 8 belts from Forever 21 for the same price…..”

and then I tried it on with this shirt I bought in the Spring and MAGIC!

Ok – keeping the belt. :)

So that’s it for my first rendition of “Fashion Friday.” I found a fun dress and some other things too, but I took these pictures during Kole’s nap and right after I snapped the picture above, Kole woke up.

No more pictures were taken from that point forward!

Have a great weekend everyone!

xoxo, Erin

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organization2

07.27.11

Get out the door list

Oh that was too much fun hearing from so many of you! I’ve loved checking in with my blog throughout the day and reading all of your sweet comments. Thank you so much for your opinions/advice about the plays. It’s clear we need to just see them both! Now I need some advice on how to convince my parents that it is imperative for them to watch my children for a day or two longer than planned. :) I’ll keep you posted on how that goes…

For today I wanted to share something that I meant to post at the beginning of summer, but then all of the sudden it was summer and most of my planned posts flew right out the window along with my sanity.

I’ve found that one of the hardest daily tasks with little ones is simply GETTING OUT THE DOOR. It requires so much time, energy, and just stuff! Every summer I write a simple “get out the door list” and tape it to my back door. It’s a run down of every possible thing I might need for our summer outings.

Some of the items listed are for when we are heading to the beach (quarters for parking) or the pool (goggles and water wings), but a lot of these items I need to remember every day in the summer for any outing we are going on (sunglasses, snacks for the kids, diapers, etc.) It’s so nice to have a list to glance at quickly when we’re in a hurry to get somewhere – just to double check that I have everything. Then I don’t have to think about all of the stuff we need to take and I can deal with Addison’s meltdown over which pair of sandals to wear, Kole’s last minute diaper change, or Ellie’s attempt to sneak 15 toys into the car along with her.

MENTAL ENERGY PEOPLE.

I only have so much of it.

I also keep this bag hanging by my keys so I can quickly grab it for snacks and water…

and this bag sits in our garage by the door. As soon as I wash swim suits, cover-ups, and towels I put them in here so they are ready to go.

Anything I can do ahead of time makes life that much easier when we are trying to go somewhere.

I’m always amazed at what a feat getting out the door can be!

xoxo, Erin

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home decor 2

07.25.11

paint and advice

Hope everyone had a good weekend! Ours was a productive one. I decided to paint a wall. My house is driving me crazy because I want to re-do everything BUT as I’ve mentioned before, we are house hunting. We may find a house we love in two days, or we may find a house we love in two years. I kept putting off decor changes thinking that as soon as I started making a mess of things we would find our dream home. Then it hit me. As soon as I start making a mess of things we’ll find our dream home! So I’m tearing into this house with high hopes that it will all be for nothing! :)

I didn’t know where to start, so I just slapped some paint samples on our dining room wall and picked the one I liked best!

The color is called Jamaica Bay by Behr and I got it at Home Depot – I hate Home Depot by the way. But I love this color! When you hold something blue against it, it looks green and when you hold something green against it, it looks blue. It’s a great sort of aqua color. I have to say that Kenny and I are NOT DIY people. If we want new furniture, we buy it. If we want something painted, we hire a painter. But this wall was such a small space that I figured we could figure it out on our own. At least I hoped we could.

I taped everything while Kenny had the girls at swimming lessons and then when they came back I put Kole down for a nap and we all got to work! Kenny painted a little…..

I painted a little…..

Even Ellie painted a little. Addison opted out because the thought of getting paint on her well thought out outfit was too much to bear.

Two hours later Kenny showered and came downstairs in this shirt. I decided it was a sign. A sign of what, I don’t know. That we’ll find a new house soon? That this color is the bomb? That I should paint more walls and buy Kenny more shirts in aqua? All to be determined. For now, we are getting used to this change. I walked downstairs this morning, walked around the corner, and WHOA – there’s a bright bluish greenish wall! Now I just need to make a few other changes so that it doesn’t look so out of place. But I have to say that I’m very proud we painted ourselves. Maybe I’ll become a DIYer after all! Can you be a DIYer and hate Home Depot???

And here is another question for anyone kind enough to answer it….

Kenny and I are planning an adults only trip to New York in the fall and are trying to choose which Broadway musical we want to see. We’ve seen Les Miserables on Broadway and Wicked and Phantom in L.A. (Wicked was the best!) so now we’re thinking either Lion King or Mary Poppins.

Has anyone seen either or both of these? Any opinions on which one is better?

Thanks so much! Hope your week is off to a good start!

xoxo, Erin

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organization2

07.21.11

An organized hutch (part 2)

How is everyone’s week going? Is anyone else tired yet? We’re having a fun summer, but my kids are seriously wearing me out! It’s like they are in hyper over drive or something. Things are a little crazy around here so naturally I turned to my guaranteed solution for feeling a bit of “inner calm.” You may remember a while ago when I organized my hutch and put keepsakes in these fun red boxes….

Well – I didn’t share the left side of my hutch because it wasn’t completely finished. I had a lot of loose odds and ends that needed a home so when I found some fun containers last week on sale at the Crate and Barrel Outlet I decided it was time to finally complete the hutch.

This hutch had become a storage place for lots of random odds and ends – mostly miscellaneous fall holiday items because my Christmas stuff is organized in various trunks. I pulled everything out, made a great big mess, and started categorizing! Ahhh… feeling the inner calm already.

You may notice that one box is holding a million remotes. We have one remote that is programmed to do everything but Kenny insists on still keeping the pile of individual ones. What am I supposed to do with those!? File them next to computer cords, a Valentine garland, and some Halloween spiders web of course. See what I mean when I say random odds and ends. Doesn’t get much more random than that.

Before long, the left side of my hutch looked like this! With bigger holiday items on top, and smaller items in their oh so tidy containers on the bottom. The containers ended up being the perfect size and I was able to fit all twelve. I decided not to do labels. As much as I love a good label, I usually don’t use them with clear containers. It’s so easy to see what’s inside and I like having the option to switch things around often. You know. Like on another day in the foreseeable future when I’m needing some more inner calm.

Like maybe tomorrow.