anniversary to acorns to weight to sneak peek...oh my

Last Sunday was our sixth wedding anniversary... 

This last year has been tough...I mean rough stuff, really. From trying to figure out how to raise a baby to packing, moving, and renovating a house it has not been an easy one. I'm happy to say we're finally coming out of it though and although we've had our moments I think we're stronger for going through these things together. 

Instead of getting a babysitter so we could go out we just waited to celebrate after bedtime. Saturday night we picked up some PF Chang's, treated ourselves to pints of Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream, and watched season four of Modern Family. Nothing too exciting but relaxing for us.

Every year we walk around the park where Joel proposed and we got married so we went after church on Sunday. This year it was a little chilly and rainy so we pretty much had the park to ourselves.

Walking around the park...

and searching for acorns...

which I turned into felted acorns. (sold at Redtree Coffee Shop)

Ok, so last week I started my six month challenge to lose this extra weight by my birthday. I weighed myself on Tuesday and I haven't lost weight yet but I do feel better. I am drinking more water/less soda and I've been walking every day. I am also taking a supplement that is all natural and supposed to help with my metabolism. Here's to another week and hopefully seeing results!

The sneak peek from my title is referring to the last room we needed to renovate downstairs. It was also the last room with wallpaper so we've really been putting it off. The wallpaper is gone, the room is painted, and in the process of being decorated. Next weekend we are picking up a sleeper sofa Joel's mom is giving to us, which means we will have to move our stuff upstairs for good. I am so excited about this room. It will serve as an informal living room, guest room, and kind of a playroom. Three walls are painted the same gray as the other rooms but to change things up I painted an accent wall black. I am really happy with it too. We are going to make it our family picture wall.

Hope you have a great weekend! 

"the goods"

As of yesterday four of my good friends became co-owners of the coffee shop I sell my merchandise at called Redtree. I am so excited for them and the improvements they will make to the shop. Last week I collected the few things I still had there, planning to bring in all newly made items and to begin a fresh start too. A couple weeks ago I tried to sell my stuff at a local event called Oakley After Hours and although I didn't sell much I did get great feedback and several people took my card. I was asked multiple times if my merchandise was posted on my blog somewhere because I have yet to open an Etsy shop...so I figured I'd do that today. Below are a few things I'm capable of making as well as the new items that are out and being sold at Redtree currently if you are interested. I know I am down to one fox pillow so I need to make more of those pronto!

Frames $12/$15 (flat and shadowboxes)

Spool Picture Holders $2.50

Small Drawstring Bags $2.50

An Assortment of Pins $3/$5

An Assortment of Necklaces $12/$18/$22 (using charms, bezels, doilies)

Some Bezels w/Resin

 Fox, Whale, and Ohio Throw Pillows $12/$15

Bye bye baby weight!

The beauty of having an online journal of sorts is that you can make it whatever the heck you want. I tell people I document our home remodeling here or that I occasionally post DIY's, but today it's about this "baby weight" I just can't seem to lose. How nice to have a baby to blame it on! To be honest I just really haven't been motivated whatsoever to put in the discipline and work to do it. I now have a 15 month old so blaming this on her doesn't seem fair to her. 

I just want to be comfortable in my clothes. I am going to be realistic about this. There's a part of me that doesn't feel healthy or like this is my body anymore. I want to be able to try on clothes and feel good, to be able to wear jeans that don't have the elastic band at the waist...that are intended for pregnant women...

I am challenging myself to get back into my normal jeans by my 30th birthday in March. From today it is exactly 6 months away. It took 9 months to put the weight on so I realize it's not going to happen overnight. 

I don't want this blog to have any one focus so I will probably post about how I am doing at the end of each week to track my progress somewhat. 

This is me today...in black and white. I thought it wouldn't look quite as bad. Hm.

To the front...

To the side...

From this day forward if you see me eating chocolate or one of it's relatives I'm giving you permission to knock it out of my hand!

  

Country Living Fair 2013

Last weekend was the Country Living Fair in Columbus, Ohio. Two more are held in Rhinebeck, NY and Atlanta, GA each year. Find out dates and info here. It's a weekend centered around eating and antiquing. You can also take a variety of classes, have your own antiques appraised, and meet the editors of the magazine along with professional pickers like Cari from the show Cash and Cari. It's a fun time, but the more popularity it gains the more crazy and busy it gets from year to year. This was our third one and we always walk away with treasures and memories made. There's just something about walking around the fair and seeing all the pumpkins out, it's the perfect way to kick off the season. 

 In Columbus the fair is held in a recreated village from the mid 19th century providing the perfect backdrop for this kind of fair.

Some cute things I saw but didn't buy(books cut into letters and arrow signs)...

Everything is displayed so perfectly.

Joel and I had a set amount to work with just to be fair and reasonable but of course I was the one who overspent. I wanted everything there. He walked away with two things and $50 leftover. He bought a letter from a light up sign and a framed horse picture.

I got four hankies, a piece of fur, a beaker, test tube, apothecary bottles, antlers, and tiny tubes containing watch parts.

However, my favorite purchase from the day would have to be this sweet little salt sack purse.

 
Last year we had a three month old with us...

And this year a fifteen month old...

Wow time flies!
You should go if you've never been. It's quite the experience if nothing else. 

Living room love...finally!

Almost a year has passed since we moved into our home in Oakley. We love it but we are still far from done. Sometimes I think part of owning your own home is accepting that there will always be something to do, change, or fix...in our case anyways. Well I am pleased to post this and be able to say the living room, for the most part is DONE! There are a couple of details here and there that we've put on the back burner because other things need attention first but I love it and it truly feels like home.
Here is a "before" picture. I can't find one of the actual before, when the walls were still covered in awesome vinyl wallpaper but this will do. Take it all in.

It's somewhat embarrassing to admit this but we lived with the room in this state for several months.

And another view...

Even though plaster walls don't look quite as nice and clean as drywall, painting them made a huge difference and covered over a multitude of problem areas.

This room has a similar layout to our previous house but it's quite a bit smaller. As a result the couch didn't fit the space. We replaced it with a scaled down neutral sofa from Restoration Hardware. 

The bookcase is one of the things we'd like to replace eventually. We're thinking wall shelves using metal pipes like we used for the coffee table.

Next to that is a side chair and table. 

The card catalog fit perfectly in this little nook beside the fireplace.

The fireplace...

And decor...

 

Desk and out of control toys.

Above the desk is probably my favorite area in the living room. I've had the best time making it our home and decorating with things we enjoy looking for and at. I used a desk drawer as a shelf to house my tiny bottle collection, part of a beehive I framed, a couple of W's I've collected, and to the right a small wooden box holds our address stamp for easy access when we're filling out bills.

I love the character of our house, which is something you miss out on with a newer home. We have a mail slot for the mail so we attached crates underneath and shoe trees above as hooks to create some extra storage seeing as we don't have an entryway or coat closet.

Everyone, even Harper are thrilled with the way everything has turned out and even though it was a long tiring road to get to this point it has definitely been worth it. This is my daughter staring out the window, probably at the trash men...