Amazing weekend!

This past weekend a couple of friends came down from Vermont for a visit. On Friday night we went to an Irish Pub/Restaurant for dinner and then went bowling.

On Saturday we attended the big reason for their visit: the Lynard Skynard and Kid Rock concert at Nissan Pavilion, which is where Hubs and I attend country concerts.

We had a great lunch at the condo and then we headed to the Pavilion parking lot for some fun tailgating, including playing lots of cornhole!

Once in the Pavilion, we settled in for an amazing time. Hubs and I got in first and saved a spot.

After an opening band I didn't recognize, there was a break and then Skynard hit the stage. Of course "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Free Bird" were favorites.

The crew was seriously having a good time as it became a day we will not soon forget.

After a big stage switch, Kid Rock made his entry as Journey blasted over the speakers "Just a city boy, born and raised in south Detroit."

All of us are big Kid Rock fans and we spent the rest of the concert singing and screaming at the top of our lungs, dancing around, and taking silly pictures with and of each other.

On Sunday we just lounged around the condo, played some cornhole, and then had a delicious dinner at Logan's Roadhouse. Then they all got up early and headed north on Monday.

It was a seriously awesome weekend and I'm so thankful they were able to make it safely down here and back. We made a lot of great memories and I can't wait for our next visit home to make more!

Blessings and Happy Tuesday!

The great lamp debate... compromise... surrender.

A few months ago my Mom came to visit and she brought me these lamps. I don't remember where she got them from, but they were just $5 a piece. I determined I'd like something like them on a trip to Chartreuse and Company and she found these shortly after returning home from that visit.

Of course I didn't want to leave the gold and wood pieces, so I taped everything off and spray painted those parts.

Finally last week I found the style lamp shade I wanted. I was on my way somewhere else to run errands and saw a big sale sign in the window of World Market. It clicked that maybe they'd have lamp shades, and although they weren't on sale, I decided that $8/piece worked for me- especially because the lamps themselves were inexpensive... or maybe they were even free... hey Mom, did I ever give you ten bucks for these lamps?

Anyways, I set the lamps up and was liking how things were looking. Then Hubby came home and I asked what he thought. Well, of course that was a mistake. One of the few times I ask him what he thinks, it turns out he doesn't like what I've done.

So, after a little bickering, I decide to compromise and put a hobnob lamp on my side so I could enjoy it and leave one of the old lamps (which are like the ones we used to have in the guest room) on his side.

Well, apparently that was no good either. But rather than fight for his own lamps, he just let me use the two hobnob lamps. I think it may have been my "you don't really care anyways" comment that got him, but I'm not sure. I'm actually leaning more towards he loves me and wants me to be happy. :)

So now I've got some neat new (to me) hobnob lamps in the master bedroom and they only cost about $15 a piece (lamp base, shade, and new energy efficient light bulb).

I'm posting this for Thrifty Treasure Mondays at Southern Hospitality because I think the lamps were a good deal and the shades weren't too bad either. Head on over there for some awesome thrifty finds and maybe a little inspiration!

Blessings and Happy Monday!

Little things I enjoy...

Getting beautiful wedding invitations in the mail...

Organizing things like this:

Into this:

Using a favorite print in a pretty frame.

Paintings done by a friend. (These were the inspiration for using blue in the guest room.)

Finally getting the rest of the frames in the master bedroom filled with wedding photos.

"Bestie" the bear.

It's great to have a home filled with little things to love and smile about. I'm so glad to be developing my home into one I truly enjoy- I'm blessed and thankful to have so many wonderful things and a cozy place to call my own.

Blessings and Happy Wednesday!

The desk area develops...

A few weeks ago I shared the below picture of the desk area in my guest room. My sister had just moved out and back to Philly and I was reclaiming the space as a creative work area.

After I was done tidying and putting things away, below was what I had to work with, which was a grand improvement.

Well this weekend I added another component: a bulletin board, which was and is to become an inspiration board of sorts. I purchased the board (Target - $9) and spray painted the trim and white washed the cork board.

I've already begun to add little bits and pieces of ephemera, photos, and the like.

With this new addition to the space, I'm really starting to feel organized and able to sit down at the desk and work on other projects, like scrapbooking and journaling. It's especially nice because the guest room is really coming together as a room I enjoy being in.

The kitties like it too. :)

Blessings and Happy Tuesday!

Two of many...

My "time out" was fantastic. I got a lot of projects checked off my list and got started on several others. I think my enjoyment of my condo seriously multiplied already with just the few projects I've gotten done and I can't wait to enjoy the completion of the ones I've started and have yet to begin.

I'm only going to share two of the projects today, both of which include thrifty treasures I posted about a couple months ago for Southern Hospitality's Thrifty Treasures. Today, however, I'm posting them for Between Naps on the Porch's Metamorphosis Monday.

On Memorial Day weekend, my Mom and I went to our first estate sale and got a trunk load of great stuff at a crazy total price of $15. Something that we both got to enjoy by splitting them between us was a stack of trays.

Below is one of the trays I got. I had no intention of keeping it as is, though I did take a close up picture of the two flower designs for inspirational purposes. At the time of purchase, I figured I would end up spray painting the trays, but I didn't know where they'd be used yet.

Well, this weekend the first tray (the one above) got spray painted and found a home in my guest room. The guest room is a bright green and I have lots of black and white, but have also started to add cobalt blue as an accent.

So I spray painted the tray white and then in order to set it off from the white dresser I painted black trim around the edge. The framed pieces above the dresser used to be above the bed, but I'd never been satisfied with having them there so I moved them to this new place, which I like so much more.

The second project started with the two green bottles seen below amongst a $1 tub of glass miscellany.

After a good wipe down, here they are ready for my project. I love the shape and I have seen others turn great bottles into lamps, so that was my desired plan for these.

The lamp kits were just under $6 at Walmart. These were really easy to assemble- just read the instructions and away you go! I chose not to drill holes in the bottles for the wires but just set the lamp kit into the bottle opening and let the wires fall to the back.

Then I added white lamp shades from Target ($5.99/e) and I've got two custom lamps for under $15 a piece (less than 50 cents each for the bottles, $6/e for the lamp kits, $6/e for the lamp shades, and bulbs I already had on hand).

This is what the nightstands in the guest room looked like before...

And here is one side with one of the new lamps...

And then finished off with some boxes, which I kind of collect, and a couple tiny vases (all of which were either gifted or bought at thrift stores for 50 cents or less a piece). The other side has an alarm clock to one side of the lamp and a stack of more boxes on the other side.

These are pretty small, simple changes, but they've really made an impact on the room. I made another change in the guest room that I'll share tomorrow or later in the week, but for now head on over to Between Naps on the Porch for some inspirational DIY projects.

Blessings and Happy Monday!