holy flu virus, batman.

The last thing anyone who lives in Ohio and is on a beach vacation in February hopes for, is the flu. But, hoping didn't do a bit of good because nearly half of our vacation was spent with me having the flu, Travis hoping not to get the flu, and us both praying Jack didn't start to show symptoms of the flu.

Unfortunately, I wasn't the only one plagued with this virus that has me feeling like I'm on my death bed. My dad got it. My brother got it. And, Jack got it too. :(

After spending Tuesday in bed with Jack all day... coughing, sneezing, aching, sweating, freezing, puking being nauseous, crying, and having severe anxiety about our two flights home on Wednesday, I was certain I've never felt worse in my life. But Wednesday came, and by the grace of God, we made it home. And although I looked forward to a night of good sleep in my own bed, when you have a little one that is sick too, your own needs quickly get pushed aside and that sweet little boy gets to climb into bed with you and proceed to cough in your face all night simply because he's asking to be cuddled. That's love.

I tried catching up some of my blog reading today. At which point I realized just how cloudy my head really is. Fortunately, Travis stayed home today to take care of us. Unfortunately, after all his efforts of nearly overdosing on Airborne (I'm not even sure that's possible, but he's taken alot) he's suddenly not feeling so good either. I'm thankful that Jack and I seem to no longer have as bad of a fever as we have over the past few days, but this cough, headache, body aches, and lack of energy or appetite is getting quite depressing. Not to mention when I do eat, it tastes like "sick". And, I'm not even sure how to describe a "sick" taste to you but all my tastebuds know at this point is cough drops, NyQuil, and Gatorade. "Sick!"

I am hoping, praying, wishing, and crossing every appendage I can that this passes, soon. The only bright side is that this cough seems to be doing serious work on my abs. We're miserable. But we hope you all are doing well and are hanging in there through these gray skies and unruly weather until Spring arrives. Oh, you don't have gray skies and unruly weather? Up yours! *joke*

Any at home remedies any of you can recommend??? I'm almost willing to try anything at this point!

On a lighter note, just as soon as I'm feeling better I think a dinner date is in store so I can rock these babies that I ordered before I left for vacation and were waiting for me when I got home.

They're Carlos Santana Versa found here. Perfect for the inbetween-winter-and-Spring weather for keeping my feet covered but showing off my perfectly polished toesies in bright Spring shade. ;)

Anthro SALE and a giveaway?

Although the Ocean Blue Shower Curtain wasn't originally on my list in this post,

I think I may just be in.love.

And, you must imagine my surprise when I found it on SALE (online) for $69.95!!!

At almost $50 less than originally priced, it's on the top of my "to do" list to call my local Anthro store tomorrow in hopes of them having it in stock.

If not, how can I not order it?

Right???

What do you all think?

P.S. I'm thinking Valentine's Day is the perfect excuse to host my first giveaway.

Don't you?

;)

Jack's Bachelor Pad (reveal).

Well, it happened.

We finally had a little bit of sunshine peaking through the clouds yesterday.

And although I don't have a fancy schmancy camera to make my photos look as good as they probbaly could, I grabbed the one I do have and snapped away.

Because who knows when little miss sunshine will be back for a visit.

If you care to dare to see the "befores", grab some saltines and clear soda (because it could quite possibly make you sick to your stomach) and click here.
Ok go ahead and look. It makes the "after" even better!

Thank you for your patience while I sat here in Ohio waiting for the sun to shine.

Let me introduce you to Jack's big boy bachelor pad.

I love it.

Like, looove love it.

The mix of old and new makes me smile every time I walk in the room.

Everything in the room has a story.

Whether it be how we came across the desk and chair by complete accident when hopes of finding matching wingback chairs failed.

Or how I asked my mother in law over a year ago if she would pass the picture, now hanging above Jack's bed, onto him.

It used to hang in her family room. And I would stare at it every time we'd visit, thinking of how perfect it was for the vision I had for Jack's big boy room. So, when I asked if she would pass it on to me for that use, she explained how she loved the picture because it reminded her of exactly what Travis looked like, walking on the beach as a little boy.

Ironic, because it always reminds me of what Jack looked like on his first trip to the beach.

Makes my heart so happy to have it hanging above his bed.

(Thanks Pat!)

:)

Oh yeah! Annnnnd, can you all even believe what I made his chandelier out of????

THANKS DAD/PAWPAW!!!

*insert impressed blushing grin here*

There are a few things that still need done/tweaked.

-Lightswitches and outlet covers changed out for white ones.

-I need to come up with a phrase for the frame on Jack's nightstand holding a picture of the three of us at the beach.

-Paint the desk chair once its warm enough outside to use the spray gun.

-I'm considering changing the white roman shade out for a bamboo roman shade for some contrast.

-Wondering if I should hang the sailboat sketch that's propped on his dresser.

-And, I have the entire alphabet to cover the wall at the foot of his bed just as soon as I get it all painted.

But, we love it.

And, although it's bittersweet to see my "baby" boy have such a big boy room,

he happens to love it too...

I linked up here and here.

i heart ruffles.

Welp, here we are Sunday evening and still no "after" photos of Jack's big boy room.

What can I do?

It's January. In Ohio.

And I honestly cannot tell you the last time the sky wasn't gray.

To think, I love gray.

Just not when it's the color of the sky.

Not for weeks at a time.

So, what's a girl to do?

When the temperatures are too frigid to paint (even in the garage).

And the skies are so gray?

Well, move on to another room makeover of course!

The newest 'updated on the tightest of budgets and within the general likes of homeowners in our area' room in the house is the guest/Jack's bathroom.

What exactly does all that in italics mean, you ask?

Well, this isn't our forever home. Oh no, far from it.

So when we update, we have to keep in mind not to update so specific to our likes and not over-update it and it not be worth our investment considering the market we're in.

So it's nothing spectacular.

But, it's better. Alot better.

And, it's not done yet but I'm already seriously considering a "splurge item".

Since nothing in the room was a splurge, and the one I'm considering can go with us to our forever home when that day comes.

That's not the bathroom.

I WISH!

And, I'm unsure of where I came across that picture.

But it's beautiful, wouldn't ya say?

The wall color is "Horizon" by Benjamin Moore.

And that's the color I painted Jack's room and the bathroom.

Soooo, I'm torn between which of these to go with:

my all time favorite item from Anthropologie?

If ever there was perfection found in a shower curtain, that's it.

 or one of these Urban Outfitters beauties?

Which would you pick?

I hope you all had a lovely weekend.

We had family in town, and my sister and neice are here tonight because my neice turns 4 tomorrow and we plan to have a super fun time with the kids...

going out for breakfast...

baking cupcakes...

opening presents for our upcoming beach trip...

and

laughing, hugging, cuddling

the day away.

:)

Hope your week gets off to a great start!

Jack's bedroom makeover (before).

As you may already know, I've been working on turning Jack's boring, plain, "no longer my style" nursery into a "big boy" room he can love and I can be proud of.

Well, it's complete.

For now.

And just as soon as the sun decides to shine again here in the state of Ohio,

in the month of January,

I will quickly take all the photos I can before the clouds again hide the rays I love so much.

Until then,

I have nothing but the "before" pictures.

The ghastly "before" pictures.

Of his room.

Of furniture for his room.

And, of items in his room.

So, if your eyes (and stomachs) can handle it,

here is his room, furniture, and items in all it's hideous glory.

anyone notice the sneak peak? ;)

$20 antique dresser I found on Craigslist.

$20 desk and chair from a local thrift store.

$10 Craigslist find that I'm glad I measured before we bought Jack's mattress.

Previous owner said it was full sized. It's queen.

what the old light looked like.

via: young house love.

What I used to make the new light.

Thanks to A LOT of help (and patience) from my dad who knew I had a vision and trusted me enough to keep working on this seemingly never-ending project.

Love you Dad!

Are y'all still with me?

Have you frantically hit the "stop following" button after all that mess?

Or is your head hanging over a bucket/toilet from how sick you are to your stomach after seeing those images?

If you're still here, you deserve an award!

But, I promise you, the "after" in my completely biased opinion is soooo cool.

It brought me to tears.

Happy tears.

Sad tears.

Happy to see my "baby" boy so excited about his big boy room and "gigantic to him" bed!

:)

Sad to see I no longer have a baby boy.

:(

But, he's happy so it makes me happy.

And, the weather forecast is showing sunshine for Thursday so hopefully that will be the big reveal day!

If anyone knows of any good par-tays (i.e. parties) I can link up to, and share the room makeover, please do let me know!

Until then, thanks for hanging in there through the good, the bad, and the ugggg-ly with me.

aluminum dining chairs (deal).

I'm embarrassed to admit that over a year ago I posted about some things I wanted to add to the house. And, quite a few of them we have. I.e. beadboard (which I should share in an updated kitchen post), a chandelier and a couple other lighting changes I should also share, lots more white of course, and a comfy chair I am crazy enough to think I can slipcover. But, the embarrassing part is that over a year ago I said there was a farm table I was working on. And, welp, I'm still working on it. If having the legs and chairs cleaned and primed but waiting to be painted and the top waiting to be sanded and stained can be counted as "working on it". Anyhow, I saw this photo and fell in love with the look.

*an old Country Living photo I found via google.

Imagine those chairs, around this table.

*also found via google.

I'm not yet certain  I want the legs blue on the one I have, I may opt for white. But I do want them distressed like mad, and a dark stained top. It's lovely and seems most practical with a wild little 3 year old boy in the house.

I do have three windsor chairs that came with the table but I thought of mixing in a few aluminum chairs to keep things interesting. And today Mary posted these chairs from Sundance Catalog.

Beautiful, right?! I mean, wow. Bad news, for me, is the price tag. $245 each. NO WAY would the hubby agree to paying that for a metal chair he can't recline in. You get the point.

So I had some searching to do, and *drum roll please*...

homedecorators.com

$79 each

on sale from $99 each.

I got the okay to order them because Travis likes them too!

So my question now is, order four to have all matching chairs around the farm table I am determined to finish this Spring just as soon as the frigid temperatures subside and the garage doesn't feel like an icebox. OR, order two and place them on one side together while placing a windsor chair on the opposite side, and one on each end.

*windsor chairs*

Although the ones I have will be painted white.

I'm the.most.indecisive.person.ever so come on ladies, share those opinions!

Please.

And, thank you.

:)

P.S. I have a lamp steal to share tomorrow. AND, maybe, just maybe,

 my first ever GIVEAWAY coming soon!!!

antique love, close to home!

While browsing Craigslist

(and wathcing football since I'm in a Playoffs Fantasy League... yes, you read that right.)

I came across a dresser at a flea market less than an hour from home.

The dresser was cute, and had a good price so I kept looking and came across "old beauty" that I think I need.

Wouldn't this be great for holding magazines or books?

Lately, I have an owl obsession.

I purchased two ceramic ones from Goodwill I plan to spray a glossy white.

Perfect for the blank space above our front door. Maybe with an "M" in that space in the middle.

I can think of 101 uses for an old chair. Love them, and at just $8 each, I want them all.

After seeing Maria's Master Bedroom I want two of these old doors to use as a headboard!

The old mantels above also remind me of this setup in her living room.

That frame, painted white and holding just about anything (other than the floral painting it holds now)... yummy.

Dresden Junk-shun is only open two hours tomorrow but I bet I could have an SUV size load of goodies picked out in about 2.5 minutes!