The End of Google Reader

Since Google Reader was decommissioned at the end of June, I've been using Bloglovin'. I gave several different readers a try and Bloglovin' won out for me. It had the best reading features and the iPhone app was the best I found for readers.

Have you converted to a new reader yet?


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Traveling During Hurricane Season

Greetings from Barbados!!!!

We are currently riding out Tropical Storm Chantal. It always stinks to have a whole day of vacation washed out, but at least we have movies, Kindles and iPads to get us through.

We started out the trip with a relatively easy travel day, it's been a lot worse in years past, so a slight wait on the runway couldn't dampen out spirits.

 

We spent yesterday at the beach frolicking in the waves and watching crazy kids jump off cliffs.

Last night we got a note on the door to be prepared to hunker down (my words, not theirs) since Tropical Storm Chantal would be visiting at about 4am and would bring with her pretty crappy weather for the next day. I guess that's what you get when you travel to the Caribbean during hurricane season. Barbados is a pretty lucky island, they only get hit by a Hurricane every 50 years or so, this is our first time in 10 years of coming here that an official named storm has hit during our trip.

Our view today: still pretty, but a little angrier

So now I guess we thank our lucky stars we had the foresight to load up our suitcase with tons of frozen drink packets. Nothing a strawberry daiquiri or piña colada can't fix.

Any good tips for surviving a washed out day of vacation???

 

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March House Project - Chevron

The last weekend in March I tackled a project I had Pinned a while back, a Chevron wall. Here was my original inspiration:

The basic instructions were to use a chalk line to create a grid on the wall. Then use tape to mark off the chevron stripes. Easy enough.

The previous owners of our house had already taken the doors off of the closet in the room I've claimed as my craft room. The whole room had been painted the same light pink as in the closet.

The first step was taking down the wire shelving they had and filling in those holes.

Then it was time to paint it a base coat of white. Unfortunately even this light pink was impossible to cover, it took three coats of white to cover.

I had drawn on paper to figure out dimensions for the grid. I had decided to go with longer stripes, so I marked off 18 inches along the top and bottom and 12 inches down the sides. It was then time to get out the chalk line to set up the grid. I had help to snap the chalk line and the tape off the stripes.

You can see the grid lines best in this picture

After getting the grid on the wall it was time to tape it off. This part was time consuming, trying to get everything lined up just right and trying to keep up with which pieces when on the inside or outside of the lines to create even width accent stripes. The wide sections would get painted, the narrow ones stayed white, once the tape came off, they would all be the same size. We ended up with this:

I put smaller pieces in the sections that would not get painted

I had left over coral paint from my pantry project, so that is what would become the accent color. 

Even after I had started painting, I hadn't decided whether I would continue the stripes around to the sides of the closet or not. After getting the center park filled in, I realized it'd look best to continue them around. 

I wish I had thought to tape that part off before I put the accent color on the wall, it was so tedious to get the tape just right on the narrow side walls. I wanted to hurry up and get those taped off and get a second coat of coral on the wall so I could take the tape off when it was still wet.

Once I started taking the tape off I was freaking out about how well it was turning out. I half expected this to be a complete fail and was prepared to just paint over the whole thing when it turned out awful. With each piece of tape I took off the lines were crisp and exactly how I imagined.

I was absolutely thrilled with how this turned out. I had very little touch up to do once the tape came off. I think taking the tape off pretty soon after putting the second coat on the wall helped to keep the lines so crisp. Also, before painting I went over the tape three or four times with my thumb to make sure it was pressed down and completely sealed.

It was a tedious project, several coats of white just to cover the existing color. Then waiting a day for that to really dry before I put the tape up. On the day of taping and painting the stripes, it was a solid 7 hours from start to finish, but so worth it. 

I am going to leave the closet doors off and put up some white shelving. I know I won't want to put too much stuff in there to block the paint job. It looks even better in person, I couldn't have dreamed of it even turning out this well!!!!

Have you had any success with Pinterest projects recently? Do you have any accent walls in your house?

Happy Birthday Hubs!!!!

To my best friend, confidant, partner in crime and all around favorite person:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!

34 was an EPIC year. I can't wait to see what 35 brings.

#TBT

Cheers to another great year!!!!

Love you babe.

xoxo

We are our own harshest critic

Love this new campaign by Dove.

You are more beautiful than you think.

I always try to imagine what other people think about me, how they see me. It's never positive, but I bet my imagined thoughts are completely false.

Time to stop focusing on what I don't like and focus on the good and beautiful.

Note: Not sure if the video is showing up in Reader, but click on the link at the top to watch.

Grey and Yellow, Grey and Yellow

I'm a month behind in posting this, but I promise I got this project done in February.

I had leftover grey paint from my craft room (which I haven't shared yet, to come...) and needed to do something with the bathroom in our basement. It's a small full bath, nothing too special about it.

Of course I forgot to take a before picture, cause that's how I roll, but trust me when I say it was just stark white and boring.

It only took about two hours to paint, I find painting a lot like running, half the battle is mental and once you get past that, it isn't as painful as you expected it to be. I always dread painting, but the prep is the worst part, once you get to rolling, it's just not that bad.

 We picked up a mirror from World Market. The hand towels and shower curtain from West Elm. We had to get the "W" and "S" for the pups. The print was dug up at Target, not usually my first thought when looking for prints, but always surprising what I find. The basket was also picked up at Target. It was marked as a Media Bin, but it looked like just the right size for tissues and spare tp.

Maybe one day I'll change out the light fixture, but this one will do for now. I love what a difference paint can make in even the smallest of rooms. Now every time I walk by I smile to see another completed room.

Can't wait to share my March project, it's a good one!!!!!

What have you been up to lately?

4 Years and Counting...

Today is four years since we said "I do"

It's been the best four years of my life.

Definitely the most fun four years of my life.

It feels more like four months than four years, I guess time flies when you're having fun.

I can't wait to see what the next four years and the next four and the following four (you get the point) after that will bring.

I can't believe that it could get even better than this, but....

The best is yet to come.

love you babe.
xoxo