Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Oh yeah, we got snow

This is how Shaun had to get out of the back door to shovel today.  He likes to 'dive in' to his chores.  Har har.
It was absolutely hilarious to watch him try to get out of the snow and stand up. 
Eventually, a path was created. 
And then the driveway was cleared with the help of our neighbor's snow blower.  We share a driveway, so we always have help!  And, our Christmas wreath was finally removed from the front of the house.  That's why I don't do lights, people.
My bro and Shaun decided to do some snow angels, mid-shoveling session.
They had an ab workout when they tried to get up, though.
Great job, guys!  Now get back to shoveling. 
We've never seen snow like this.  Racine's official total was 23.5 inches!
The total inches of snow in our kitchen?  One too many.
Yes, we had snow blowing onto our kitchen counter through these big holes in the backsplash.  When we ripped out the faux brick a year ago, some of the plaster came with it.  We've had cardboard covering the hole all that time, but there is NO insulation behind this wall and we have an opening on the outside of the house where it's getting in.  So, that sucks.  But at least the snow has stopped, and it looks pretty when the sun is out.
Hope everyone in the blizzard's path enjoyed their snow day!  I know my shovelers did.
Yes, this is how we do in Wisconsin. 

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Ugly coat closet

Our front hall coat closet was a messy, shabby little thing. 
It wasn't exactly the picture of organization. 
I tried to pretty it up with the hanging shoe organizer and matching bin on top, but we ended up not using them very much.  The closet rod was also too close to the shelf, so it made hanging stuff a little difficult.
There was always a major shoe explosion on the bottom.  That's because Shaun just throws them in there willy nilly.  Not my fault!!
The inside of this closet was painted with a Boozie-Susie special: high gloss white paint that is one step away from a mirror shine.  With tons of drips and smears, obviously.  More pics of this hott mess paint job to come. 
The best features of the closet are the cute little window that gives tons of natural light (it doesn't open)
and the full-length mirror that is attached to the door with molding.
Starting Sunday, I've been working on making this closet blog-worthy.  After I did some workouts on Exercise TV, of course.  Rest assured you will see more of my progress as the week goes on.  Let's just go ahead and call it 'closet week', okay?

Monday, January 31, 2011

I jumped on this bandwagon

So....something happened on December 20th. I was perusing my google reader when I happened upon two similar posts by Effortless Style and One Love.  It was about the deal of the day at HauteLook, a reproduction Eames rocker for $79 plus $20 shipping.
I have never really lusted over this chair, or a rocker version for that matter, but the thought of owning a reproduction of something that had such a cool history in design really appealed to me, so I whipped out my credit card before the deal expired in a couple hours.  Considering this same item was more than 5 times that price everywhere else, it seemed like a great opportunity to own this interesting piece!  Then I kind of forgot that I ordered it.  It came unannounced in mid-January in a huge box on our front porch.   
It's hanging out in the living room right now, I added the Crate and Barrel throw because without it, the men in my life seem to think it looks like a handicap chair for the shower.  Ouch!  My thoughts: this chair is not very comfy to sit in.  I probably wouldn't offer it up as a seat to a guest.  But, it looks cool and will be good for a modern nursery someday, so that is where it will most likely end up. 
Would I buy it again?  Probably, just for the fact that it's a great conversation piece.  And for under $100, I consider it a cool accessory.  Anyone else buy the HauteLook deal of the day?

Thursday, January 27, 2011

CSN Giveaway Winner!

The Random.org Gods have spoken, and self-proclaimed 'lucky' girl Cassie from Primitive and Proper is the winner of the CSN gift card!
Here's her right-on comment:
i am feeling lucky! :) i am enjoying your blog and thanks for the chance to win!

January 24, 2011 6:39 PM

Thanks to everyone for your comments.  I love finding new blogs via my comments, so PLEASE make sure your profile is visible to the public and there is a link to your site.  Smooches!!

Monday, January 24, 2011

CSN Giveaway

To coincide with the Packers BIG WIN yesterday....
....I'm happy to give away a nice chunk of change for CSN's 200+ online stores to one lucky reader!   If I had to pick my favorite CSN wares, I would probably chose the modern decor sold at All Modern, but I don't hate on their other fabulous sites, either.  I've always been so pleased with the items I've received from CSN.  If you win, you can take $65 and buy whatever you want with it!

Giveaway details:
The prize: one $65 gift certificate to any of the 200+ CSN Stores!

How to enter: just leave a comment on this post. Please make sure I can contact you by either an email address in the comment, or a link to your email on your blog. 

How to enter again: if you want to blog about my giveaway, I will give you an extra entry! Please leave a second comment with the link to your post if you do this.

Deadline: The giveaway will close on Wednesday January 26th at midnight. I will pick the winner using Random.org.


GOOD LUCK!!

Thursday, January 20, 2011

A decision is made

Thank you for all the amazing comments on my last post.  Even though so many people recommended it, Sandals was just out of our budget.  We couldn't find a trip at any of their resorts for less than $3800, which was a little too much for my taste.  I'm not someone that vacations well, I agonize over every expense and hate elaborate dinners, handing out money for shuttles, drinks, snacks, and extras.  We ended up following a suggestion a few of you made, and booked Couples Negril which came in at $3100 for 7 nights including airfare from Milwaukee.  Even though the CHEAPO in me does the math and realizes that is a whopping $442 a night, I think it will be worth it to not have to pay anything extra when we get there.  I loved that the Couples resorts are completely all-inclusive, and no tipping is allowed.  That makes me feel good that I don't have to hand out bucks to the staff to get good service.  The grounds look beautiful!


More pluses for this resort:
Gorgeous beach and pool
Free shuttle from the airport to the resort, no crazy cabbies!
Free honeymoon gift of sparkling wine and 30 minute his/hers massage
Premium brand liquors included (you know this is important!)
Golf greens fee and transportation included
No surcharge or reservations needed for any of the restaurants
Free shuttles to nearby attractions
Free sunset catamaran cruise
Stocked mini bar in all rooms (YAY!) 




I booked it tonight, we could not be more excited!  Unless someone offered to pay my credit card bill.  That would definitely do it. 

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Help me please

We are getting married in less than 4 months.  Yikes!  We still haven't picked a honeymoon destination because I'm paralyzed with indecision.  We know what we want:

Mexico or Caribbean
All-inclusive
Adults only
A fantastic beach for relaxing
Some sort of nightlife to enjoy a couple nights of dirty dancing
6 or 7 nights
Around 3k
(Villa Premiere in Puerto Vallarta - a front-runner!)
SO.....can anyone recommend a place?  I have never been to an all-inclusive, so I have no idea which ones are good.  HELP ME!