Girls Trip to Disney

Thursday was a FUN girls trip to Disney. Trish and I planned the day weeks ago, but I never mentioned it to Amanda Lily. So, as the day approached, I decided it should be a surprise for her. That Thursday morning was as typical as any. I packed both kids lunches, and we headed off to drop Steven at his school first. Amanda Lily was so surprised when we reached her school, and I said "OK Cookie, I need you to wave good bye to your school" She was like What Mom??? Why are you driving past my school??? I told her to take off her backpack and throw it in the back of the car because we were off to Disney. She couldn't believe it! She told me I was the best Mom ever, and I quote "I've always wanted a Mother like you, and if I didn't have you, I would want you, even when you are mad." LOL LOL LOL

We picked up Trish and Grace, and before we knew it, the girls were skipping arm in arm into the park. We did all the girlie stuff, and had a wonderful time. They had their faces painted and talked with the Princesses, rode Tea cups and the Carousel. We did every ride on our list and the lines were SHORT.We lasted all the way til the Spectro Magic Parade and Fireworks! Amanda Lily's favorite part of the day was when she rode Space Mountain for the first time. I wasn't sure how she would take it, because Steven hates it. She has lots of her Mommy in her though, because she LOVED it. She immediately turned around to me as the ride stopped and squealed "AGAIN MOMMY!!!!!" She is much more into taking risks...Steven likes to play it safe. I took tons of pictures, as always, but I was sad that I didn't get any with Grace in her Snow White costume. Both girls changed into their Princess costumes, but Grace tooks hers off after a while. They had so much fun together.

It was a beautiful day, and we can't wait til the next "girls only" trip.

Renovating a Thrift Store Dresser

I found this old dresser at my favorite local thrift shop. It is made of all wood...no particle board, and I could see it's future spot in my home the moment I laid eyes on it. It took a weekend worth of TLC, but the end result was well worth the DIY effort. It makes me glad I didn't spend the $799 on the PB hutch I've had my eye on.

STEP 1 is some major sanding to get off the white spray paint and ugly gold leaf.
STEP 2  is kettle black valspar paint, high gloss for glamour! I used a small sponge roller and paint brush to apply 3 coats.
STEP3 is Brasso brass cleaner to polish up the fixtures. I toyed with the idea of replacing the fixtures, and maybe will in the future.

She was pretty run down in her former life (check the before pictures), but now she's GORGEOUS! Here she is all decked out in my Valentines Decor. I LOVE her! I also have a fondness of the subway art that's cropping up all over blogs. I printed this Valentine one offline for free, and framed it. Cute huh?

Guest Room Re Do

Well, our 2011 resolutions begin in our guest room. We need to replace the carpet, paint the
walls, and I have a couple little decorative tricks up my sleeve for the closet doors. Just have a peek at this awful "builders grade" carpeting! Wowzers...
Now, it would have been very easy to just lay the hardwood floors, but keeping my resolution in mind, I figure I might as well go ahead and fully complete the room. It's a lot like my cleaning around the house routine....I clean one room FULLY at a time. No moving on to the next room, until the current room is complete. I'm crazy like that, but it works for me.


Anyhow, Hubs has really been helpful. I didn't even touch a paint brush. I just came home from church and the walls were D-O-N-E! Hallelujah! And, I love the color! My design inspiration is tranquil chic. I want the end result to be a place our guest can find restfulness and calm.


The hardwood floors are being installed next week. I am thrilled about that not only because they will be gorgeous, but also because it gets the boxes of hardwood out of my craft room corner. Those very boxes of wood have been in my craft room corner for over 2 years!


These are the pics of progress so far. Hopefully they can help keep the resolutions alive. I know I'm not alone, as the organization isle at Target was slammed with women yesterday. I smiled to myself knowing that I'm not the only nester out there.