March sunroom goal: Completed

My whole family and my coworkers have been really sick this whole winter and I'm surprised I haven't gotten anything. I thought it was helpful since I have my own office and don't pass tons of germs?... Well, this week was my turn and then I passed it to Darrin yesterday:(  I took Monday off since my head was pounding. I tried to rest, but that didn't last, since it was lawn day around our neighborhood. That didn't help my head at all! So, I got busy on more house projects.

My goal this month was to get the sunroom done and it is 90% done! It's pretty close to my board I did a few weeks ago. Just need a few more items to fill it, but I feel this room will be always changing. I'm just happy it's not empty anymore;)

Craigslist buy

NOOO!!! Caught her in the act!

This painting was a surprise gift for Christmas from my Dad and his wife.
It was painted by their friend who is a local artist in Clear Lake, CA.
It's very special to us because it's a scene at the winery where we got married.

Left over shelf that I did in the kitchen, so I bought three Anthropologie door knobs.
Screwed them in and instant coat hanger!

Also, this past week we had a lot of FIRSTS: 

1. First bbq at our house. We need to buy a real homeowners bbq soon! 
2. Darrin mowed the lawn for the first time and I planted new flowers.
3. Maddie got her first haircut at the groomers
4. Maddie was boarded for the first time. Don't think she slept one bit!
5. Our nephew turned ONE. 
6. Our other nephew turned FIVE this week.
7. Both nephews got their first Virginia Tech hat!
8. Finally found a good hair salon! I don't have to fly back to CA to get it done;) Close to home and reasonable!
9. And this weekend will be my first NASCAR RACE!!! CAN'T WAIT for the GOOD people watching!! I promise I'll post pics.

First cookout on our deck.

Savannah wanted to join.

First snip snip and got a cool bandanna too!

What's all this excitement about?!

My buffet bargain find

My hunt for a buffet/bar is over!


Buffets are so expensive at Pottery Barn or Crate and Barrel and right now, I couldn't imagine spending those prices. Since getting all new barware from our wedding registry, we haven't had anywhere to display them. I have been looking for a nice bar for a long time and I finally found one at a garage sale last fall!


Our reaction pulling up to this garage sale was pretty funny! We felt as if we were in a horror movie out in the boonies. I asked the lady if she had any bigger furniture and she pointed out to her cow pasture towards this metal shed. I didn't get it? It didn't look like any place to put your nice furniture. I was imagining that it would look like Dexter's kill room inside, so I made Darrin come with me. After struggling with the massive metal door, we opened it and my buffet was starring at me! There were about four dressers and other junk in this shed. I saw the imperfections in the two pieces I took and all for $30 each! 


I knew the buffet would look nice stained... but that meant hard work for me. 
This was my project while staying at Darrin's Mom's in December, while we were waiting to move into our new house.

It was in pretty bad shape.

Maddie didn't like the fumes

A lot better, huh?!
Next: The reveal of the dresser. I've been staining it this week!

Time for some house projects-West Elm knock-off

I've done a few projects for our new house, but I haven't posted anything yet. I will post more soon, but wanted to share my latest project. My inspiration was from West Elm. I wasn't familiar with this design store until I started in this blog world. I was in love when I saw the website.  I looked up where they were located and found out they were in Charlotte, NC!  So, three weeks ago, Darrin and I drove three hours to Charlotte for a special trip to see the store.  I wanted everything when I went in, but bought some dish towels and place mats in the sale section. I can't wait to visit again!


This West Elm shelf was $79 for one! I spent $7 on wood, $6 for stain/cloth and $35 for brackets/screws. Total=$48 for 2! This project was a quick diy project, and Darrin got to use his new power drill! 

West Elm

Maddie always checking the action

~Megan

Top Five Wedding Gift/Top Mess by Maddie

Darrin wanted me to blog about this, so here I go...
I had a crummy morning at work on Tuesday and I came home at lunch to let out the pup. I came in the door and was hit with the biggest mess that Maddie's made so far:( I wasn't even mad. I was just blown away and I was kind of expecting it since my day wasn't going too well. 


Two words that summed up the explosion--ELMER's GLUE! Yep, M had a blast with the glue bottle she found in a drawer.  The target was our new COUCH! She poured a big puddle at the end where she usually sits. Then had a party with it and spewed out strands allll over. She also got a tube of brown paint, buttons, matches, a battery, two pens, and a cookbook. Somehow Darrin's childhood bible survived with a few teeth marks. I mean it was unbelievable and I only took one photo:(


THANKS to a gift card for our wedding, we purchased the Bissell 9200P Deep Cleaner, ProHeat 2X, Pet cleaner at Macy's. This SAVED us! Darrin scrubbed the heck out of the couch and the glue came out thankfully! This cleaner has been so useful for our Miss Mess Maker and we knew it would come in handy. Every time Darrin and I use it, we always say how this was one of the best gifts we got from our wedding. I mean we had a lot of good ones, but this has been a savior for us! 

Our poor couch

Bissell ad

All clean!

Soaking wet, but what a difference!

Hello 2012!

Today, is my first day living in Virginia with snow! It's gorgeous, but omg it's cold! I've been waiting for this day to happen since I moved and I don't think I'm prepared yet? I'm still a CA girl that has open toed shoes for work. I will be buying some warm boots tonight! 

Darrin and I flew back to CA over our break and it was great to see my family and friends again. It went too quick though! When we got back, we got to work...Uncle Gary and Aunt Trish came over and helped Darrin drain out our hot tub, but the thing still isn't working. So, that meant no bubbly in the bubbly for New Years:( We finally decided on a paint color for our living room/kitchen and painted until our arms couldn't move. After two coats and sore backs, our living room is done! Here's the new color and pics.