Lamp Envy

lamp envy [lamp en-vee] verb:
a feeling of covetousness in regard to another's fabulous lamp

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Pottery Barn almost always gives me lamp envy.

I am IN LOVE with this one...

This one reminds me of the beach.

Ballard Designs also has some pretty glass lamps...

Lately I have been itching to upgrade our bedroom lamps to one of these styles. So I did some shopping...

I found these at my local TJ Maxx. Had to have them. Let me remind you of the IKEA lamps that we've had for the past 7+ years...



Here are the new lamps. 

They were a fraction of the price of the Pottery Barn and Ballard Design versions...cha-ching!

Love them!

When Life Gives You Tomatoes...Make Sauce!

LAST WEEK was a blur. I ran an conference in Boston for a group of 250 people. I got to see the inside of the hotel, the inside of the hotel, and well...the inside of the hotel. Oh the life of an event planner.

SATURDAY was filled with yard work - which involved (the husbo) picking up 2 dead baby squirrels out of the back yard. Ummm, gross and sad at the same time.

I spent SUNDAY with my family at a farm that our friends own/run. We usually go once a summer to visit and pick veggies. We picked HORDES of veggies - as if they were going out of style. Yup, this 'burb girl went "country" for the day. And I thoroughly enjoyed it.

 Here is their chicken coop. Gathering eggs is a dirty job, but someone's got to do it. The thought of one of these things pecking at me was frightening, so I let my sister do the gathering. I am such a chicken - no pun intended. 

We picked melon, corn, peaches, peppers, 
squash, eggplant, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc. 

I picked an entire case of San Marzano tomatoes...with the help of my 4-year old niece. According to Wikipedia, these are the best sauce tomatoes in the world. I am going to attempt to make homemade sauce. Feel free to offer up your advice or personal recipes. I have NEVER done this before.

When life give you tomatoes...make sauce!

From Drabby to Shabby: Roll Top Desk

Here is my latest furniture makeover. 

Remember this roll top desk? 

 She's a great piece, just not my style. 

I saw her potential.  

I wasn't sure how difficult painting her would be. But I turned to my trusty Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (ASCP)in Paris Gray and started painting. A few hours later...here is how she turned out.

And the inside....

I painted the brass drawer pulls with Rustoleum Dark Bronze spray paint. I also thought it would be fun to paint the inside of the drawers in ASCP Duck Egg blue. 

And distressed.

I just adore her and all her shabby-chic glory.

My only dilemma now is do I keep her or do I sell her (gasp!)?

Mini-Dresser Makeover

I bought this mini-dresser at Home Goods (HG). They were practically giving her away in the clearance section. Her bottom drawer opens and closes a little wonky, but hey, who's perfect anyway? I snatched her up in a heartbeat. 

I wasn't crazy about her hardware, but knew this was something I could change easily. I found some better drawer pulls (for a steal) on yet another trip to HG. Did I mention how much I love HG? Here she is after her mini-makeover.

So much better, right? Here is a closer look.

PS - we had a BUG ALERT in the 'burbs tonight. I saw something large-and-in-charge wiz by my head and land on the wall. What the heck is this thing and where did it come from? It's a leaf with legs! YUCKEROONIES! Thanks to the husbo for coming to the rescue and saving the day. He captured it and sent it back into the wilderness. THANK GOD!

Shed Progress: Jersey 'Burb Edition

You all know that the husbo and I recently tackled the project of building our own shed from a kit. If you would like a recap, you can read more about it here, here and finally here.

To date, our shed is still empty due to the fact that I have not painted the floor or installed (yet alone purchased!) hooks, etc. to hang our tools. This has turned into a 3 month project! Hey, things just move at a slower pace here in VA - a.k.a. "The South".

Apparently, things move at a quicker pace in the Jersey 'burbs. Friends of ours, Scott & Camille, were in need of a shed for their yard. To be honest, I think our loooong and drawn out shed building project scared them a bit. Well, lets be honest, they are just SMARTER than us! They purchased a shed and had it DELIVERED! Great decision Scott & Camille! 

Check out their great shed, complete with cute windows and barn doors. I wonder if they had a project supervisor like this guy...

He is available for hire!