That's it I'm leaving!!

Olivia, my first born, sweet angel of a daughter, has turned into a head spinning, back talking, sass of a girl, with an attitude that just won't quit.

We occassionally butt heads.

This morning, as I passed her room, I noticed her suit case on the bed with clothes on it.

"Liv, why is your suit case on you bed?"

"Because I'm running away."

"Oh, ok. Where ya going?"

"None of your business."

"Got it. How are you getting there?"

"None of your business."

"Ah, I see. When are you leaving?"

"Right after you do my hair."

Every room has a story…..

As some of you know, I spent some time in my youth in New England.

I have some very fond memories of weekends on the boat in the Sound, driving through quaint little seaside towns, and loving the feeling that came over me when I was near the ocean.

So when I first decided that I wanted to redo the guest bedroom, I picked out this beautiful blue (which is surprising because even though I love all things nautical, I’m not really a fan of blue rooms).

The color jumped out at me and invoked all those feelings from childhood.

A completely blue room would be tooooooo much for me. So I decided to do a board and batten treatment also.

Just for kicks, let’s take a little look at what the room was like before…..

As often happens with spare rooms, this one became a “catch all”. It’s located right off the family room, so it’s easy to toss things in and shut the door and forget about it.

You can read about the painting here and here and board and batten here.

Most of the items in this room are gathered from throughout my house.

This is from my grandfather - “Pop-Pop”. It’s a Plank Owner Certificate from his time in the Navy. Pop-Pop is gone now, so I hang this in every house in his honor.


Plank Owners: Original Crew
The tradition of the plank owner reaches far back into history. As a member of the Navy crew serving on board the ship at the time of commissioning, the plank owner receives "a clear, free, open and unencumbered title" to a plank of the deck of the ship, thus signifying his participation in this special day. This privilege will not be given to any future member of the crew of that ship. More than just a title, crewmembers feel they have grown with the ship. When each was ready they came together as a team, the ship and crew at sea.http://www.orionsquest.org/plankowners.pdf

Here are my very cheap end tables, painted and looking nice and bright. I left the hardware as is – I think the old faded brass fits in with the room.

My father in law found this old, beat up trunk at an auction. It’s been in the basement for years, so I pulled it out and wiped it down. It’s very “distressed” (ahem) – OK, it’s a hot mess, but I love it…..

This dresser can’t stay in here, but it’s all I have right now. This was Brian’s dresser from his childhood and it too, is feeling it’s age.

Both of my children used it when they were babies and I never took out the drawer liners that my mother in law used for Brian (circa 1972)

I haven’t found any bedding that I love, so for the time being, a white down comforter and these pillow shams will have to do.



The collection of light houses is mine – people have given me every one of them and every picture on the walls were gifts….



And yes, that’s my JHU degree propped up in there. I really need to get a frame for it…..




I knew I wanted a round mirror in here and was lucky enough to find one for less than $25. It’s not gorgeous, but it definitely works.



I put out an APB for old wooden oars on Facebook and within ten minutes had a message from a friend that he had some he didn’t want and I could have them. SCORE!!



Ok, here’s the almost finished room……

The window seat which still needs its window treatment and seat cushion….



Hook for robes on the back of the door….

The oars, round mirror and too-small dresser….



Some of these were taken last night, which is why the light is different in every one….

Well, that’s it for now. I definitely still have some work to do, but it’s at least livable now.

Linking up to the Lettered Cottage - there are so many great guest bedrooms on there - you can get some great ideas!!

Linking up to Met Monday at BNOTP...I LOOOOVE Met Mondays!!!!

POST EDIT (10/29/10): Linking up to Show Us Your Life at Kelly's Korner too!!

Teaser…

 

 

It’s done. 

Well, as done as it’s gonna get before next week when Staci comes into town….and the room actually gets used!

 

 

 

The final reveal (and a preview of all I still have to do!)  tomorrow.

I promise.

It's that time of year!

OK, so no pictures yet. Sorry....

But I'm finally done painting the room - no more walking around with white and blue paint in my hair, looking like a Dr. Seuss character. The good part of walking around with white strands of hair is that now when my children point out my gray hair I just tell them "It's paint."

And they totally accept that explanation - Ha!

My babies start school on Monday - where did the summer go? Olivia will be starting her last year of elementary school and Sydney will be in second grade.

Wait, that can't be right......

*SIGH*

This is the last year that both of them will be in the same school until Olivia is a senior in high school.

That doesn't seem right either.....


We went school shopping last weekend and, unfortunately, Target just doesn't cut it anymore for Olivia.

We had to go to Aeropostle and American Eagle Outfitters.

Luckily they were having 50% off, which is the only reason she got a $25 t-shirt (for $12.50).

I think it would be cheaper to pay for diapers and formula and daycare than it will be to clothe a tween for the next few years.

It's coming along...

The guest bedroom is almost livable......

Let's hope it's livable by the 28th when my old and very dear friend Staci comes into town for the reunion. Otherwise, she'll be sleeping on the couch!!

Pictures tomorrow hopefully!

The reason my guest bedroom isn’t done….

We went to Hershey Park!!

Holy Balls of Fire it was H.O.T.!!!!!



We got there at 10:30 a.m., met up with one of my best friends Meg and her family and hit the rides!!



Tim and his daughter, Morgan, joined us for the day….



My girls rode every single roller coaster they were allowed on. Liv actually rode more than I did! She can get on all the big roller coasters (even though I was double and TRIPLE checking her restraints – nervous mommy!) And Sydney could ride most – even the Super Dooper Looper (again with the double and triple checking AND my arm across her – because that would help, right?)







And since this is probably the last year they will even look at it, Meg and I had to get lots of pictures of our girls on the infamous Frog Hopper…


Sydney & Erinn

Liv and Caitlin

They lost their flip flops on the ride….

Sydney & Erinn were attached at the hip all day. Poor Erinn is so tiny that even though she’s a year older than Sydney, she’s about 4 inches shorter and couldn’t go on a lot of the rides that Sydney could.



Caitlin, Liv, Erinn & Syd




When they got on the cars, Erinn had to ride with a “responsible rider”. Since Sydney was over the height limit, she was “responsible” enough to take Erinn. She even let Erinn drive and since Sydney LOVES this ride and loves to drive (she is truly her daddy’s girl) I know she felt bad that Erinn was upset that she didn’t get to get on some of the rides.




We spent some time in the water park going down the lazy river and then headed over to the slides.

But someone pooped on a slide.

So they shut it down.

*SIGH*

To say we were disappointed was an understatement. We got dressed and headed back to the park.

And once we were outside the water area we saw the big flume ride. The one where about 25 people get in a boat and go down a big hill? Yeah, that one. We figured that since it was located OUTSIDE the water area, we wouldn’t get tooooo wet.





We were SOOOOOOOOOOO wrong. It felt like we went under a waterfall. Once the deluge of water ended, we all popped our heads up and looked at each other and burst into laughter.

We pent the next three hours ringing out our clothes as we walked and squishing in our shoes.

I was STILL wet when we got home at midnight……

One step closer.

So the wall treatment is up!

It really only took us a couple of hours – most of which was due to cutting boards.

Once they were cut and ready to go it only took us a little while to actually get them on the walls.

Now - as you can see - I have to caulk and paint.

In the meantime, I have been looking for some small end tables. Um, small, CHEAP end tables.

After several trips to my favorite Restores and thrift shops, I found these for $10 each.

Ew – DIRTY!!

But, they are small, VERY sturdy, and in really good shape.

And I love the hardware….



Not sure what I’ll do to them yet, but for now, they are sitting in the garage. Waiting for me to pay some attention to them.

But we’ve been a bit busy, which I’ll share in my next post.

So, the room and the end tables are sitting neglected – for the time being…..