Friday, October 19, 2012

THE PINK CROCODILE GIVEAWAY!

The Christmas countdown is on!
I have started making my list ... have you?
Well, I thought I'd help you cross the first off of your list!


How CAYUTE is this print??
Wouldn't you just LOVE to give this as a gift??
(or hang it up in your house?)
It can be personalized over the door with a monogram or last name!
To WIN comment with your email address!!


Also over at my online store
you can LIKE OR SHARE the picture to get your chance to win THIS

There are SOOOO many things to see so be sure to do some lookin' and maybe some shopping!
ALL things can be personalized and I'm happy to ship it to you!!
Start and finish your list and never leave your house!!

Happy Shopping!


Thursday, October 4, 2012

maybe it's the chairs??



yes...it's taken THIS long for us to come up with a decision.....out with the old in with the new - couch for several reasons 1) we have been crazy busy! we have to send one of the chair slipcovers so they know which one it is and we've had so much company i thought a coverless chair is even worse than their sad state.
2) it's been SO HARD to pick which one we want...i really really really want a white couch - i see them on everyone's blog and they just look so pretty, southern and bleachable! it really brightens up a room and everything goes with white BUT mike says it's too much , will always be dirty (and he does do some of the laundry) and doesn't like it - big sigh....sometimes you have to know when to fold em....


sooooo....this is the chosen one!
khaki couch - blue trellis chairs - navy blue pillow accents

what do you think?  do you love it? i'm trying to....
(i still have a little time to change my mind)
HELP!!!


Tuesday, September 25, 2012

All I want for CHRISTmas is....


Hello lovah...I've put it off, I've said I can live without it that my blackberry (may she rest in peace) pictures are just fine....now that I've moved to an Evo ( i curse her) and have been blogging, and my pictures look so sad ...it's time...I've stalked everyone's blog - facebooked people (i believe it is a verb) and the standard answer-Canon eos rebel t3i so I hope I've been VERY good because at the absolute tippy top of my list!!!
A bike.....not just ANY bike - it has to be a pink bike with a basket!!
Her name is LuLu (isn't it perfect?) and she is staying at target until santa brings her 
If I had a bike I would....
Ride around taking LOTS of pictures (with my new camera)
ride into town to do my banking (it's like 4 blocks)
oohh attach a side cart for Annie or Charlotte to ride
invent the first pink bike cooler for my water beer!



A piece - ANY piece of Christian Royal Pottery for the house

He makes beautiful crosses as well...I've been dying for a piece since I read the story of Christian! And the fact that is made here in Charleston makes it even more special!


I'm crossing my fingers and toes!!
What's on YOUR list??


Tuesday, September 18, 2012

what a wild and crazy 2 weeks....

To say we've been in overdrive would be an absolute understatement! there has been a LOT of shopping/painting/shopping/fixing/shopping.....there's still some to do but we feel pretty excited about what we've done so far....

Please excuse the mess and try to focus on the above the couch area...
 it just needed something else - a little height maybe?? 
if only i could find a really cool BIG sunburst mirror
OH MY - could it be anymore perfect??? oh wait - it can it does this
49 inch beauty made of pallets (my favorite thing) by someone else
cost me the price of $100!!!!! YES i said $100 - i will pause a moment
               for you to cuss me and admire me all at once!! it was just what we needed!!!
              
                                        


again ignore the mess and the pajamas....(girl loves pajamas)
we're are focusing on the sconces with plants on them.
are those so 2000?? I don't feel like i ever see anyone with them
they were making me yaaaawwwnnn....


 Ta-da! yes, we fancy pictures of our kiddos all around the house...
we think they cute (notice mike put charlotte ,our pup,in the middle) 
hahaha - i just noticed i'm busted watching big brother!!





the vanity we were desperate to change
(remember it's a rental so i didn't want to put a lot of money into replacing)




soooo we just put something pretty over the mark and kept going.
I made the shade out of the same fabric as the shower curtain -
but please don't look too closely - haaaa




Annie's bedroom....
 i was trying to "repurpose" her shower curtain 
as a chic monogrammed matlesse ~ epic fail




yeah! i've had the fabric for the bedskirt and shams for years  - add hot pink chevron lamp
newly painted side table and shabby chic bedding - PRECIOUS!!





the other bathroom - new accessories




new pictures, candle holder, plate and turkey in the middle
can you believe this used to be paneling???
outside on the deck...mom and i thought the owl was a "hoot"
(obligatory cheese laugh here )and mike thinks they're silly so this
is where it ended up after he found it




we saw this on piterest and thought it was pretty dang funny so here it sits on our back deck


wow - what a difference a few plants and pillows can make!


yes - we busted our humps but when i was sitting there watching everyone laughing, talking
soaking in all the excitement and shear joy of the moment, the day, the meaning...


the happiness


the friend....the journey to get there


and now the memories....
it was worth every second of hustle!


Monday, September 10, 2012

a few of my favorite things this week...

it has been a CRAZY week around here - finishing those last little things you say you'll get to but never do until you are expecting not just guest but hosting your absolutely blissful friend "get ready to wed" party at your house!!! Soooo we've been busy working and SHOPPING!!
Priss lost her 2nd front tooth! I was giving her some medicine and something fell out of her mouth...hahahaha - it scared me for a sec until i realized what it was! her toothless grin is the cayutest! tooth fairy loot - a doll and some play jewelry!
We went to the lake for Labor Day and ventured to Sumter to do some shopping - they have a hardware store called Simpsons...it has everything...like an Ace/Sports store/home decor/flower nursery all wrapped into one - Mike said it was his favorite store ever....I saw these and immediately fell in love with them! they were $25 each....what a steal!! they're up in the dining room! Pictures to follow!
Charlotte's new bed...Mike picked it out and brought it home thinking i would recover it and i loved it!!
I went shopping at Homegoods today...after seeing all the blogs I shopped a whole new way - i went in looking for what i loved because i thanks to y'all have a new eye for design...THIS said "hey take me home - i want to put it on the deck outside i got new pillows for $5 each at lowe's and forgot to take a picture so it goes with that! I got this on sale for $22
UM - HELLO hot pink lamp with chevron shade??? I had a lamp for annie's room to spray paint but for $29.99 it jumped in my cart!!
this was $14.99 (it's real wood) and is going to be perfect above the bat shelf we're putting in the boys' room and it was the perfect color (dang gamecocks) all in all a pretty productive week filled with lots of good finds! stay tuned there's MUCH more to see!!

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

NEVER SAY NEVER

Annabelle's last year's end of school party...she's been blessed with the same teacher since she was five years old ~ I put her in Devon Forest because in the three counties this is the only school that had a visually impaired class. At 13 months she was diagnosed with Macular Dystrophy (i had to google it too) she has no retinas so she only has peripheral vision...it is VERY rare in children and genetic (she was also adopted from Guatemala so there are no medical records) I digress...
we have been pleased as punch and looking forward to several more years (it's in the elementary school) FAST FORWARD riiiinnnggg.....riiinnnnggg (thursday morning before school starting on monday) Me - hello??? Judy (Annie's teacher) Dena? You got a minute? M - sure - what's going on?? J - well - the district has decided to disband the vision class and i will now be traveling teacher going to three schools M - um - what does that mean? where will annie be going? J - they've decided to put her in a different special needs class M - sniffling .... like what kind? J - come to meet the teacher tonight...i want you to meet Wesley M - now in tears...ok Well let me tell you - I got on facebook so fast it made my fingers spin - HOW DO I HOMESCHOOL??? I hit enter and looked at what it said....GULP...DID I ACTUALLY JUST TYPE THAT??? fortunately in these times there are plenty of crazy devoted parents who are homeschooling (no wonder alcohol sales aren't down in this economy) Someone told me to call SCAIHS (SC Assoc of Independent Home Schools) frantically I call and get a message (remember school starts in 3 days and I have NO idea what i am doing) I left a message in tears - I'm not quite sure how she understood a word I said but praise God she did and called me back in 5 minutes! She was as calm as a cucumber when she said "don't panic we've got you covered - there's plenty of time and we have a special education coordinator" I still went to meet the teacher ...the classroom was precious, the teacher was amazing - loved her techniques BUT when you're sitting in a classroom with pilate balls and the teacher says "no one is ever going to pick those up and toss them" to the mother of a visually impaired child ... i think "Lady, you cute but you are full of it" SOOOOOO while everyone was putting up their cute first day of school pictures Annie was vacationing at the lake with the grands and I was doing LOTS of research!! YOU CAN LEARN SO MUCH WITH GOOGLE AND FACEBOOK!
so today i went here - it's about 1.5 hour drive and spent 3 hours in conference/planning/soaking it in with the most wonderful woman ...she was full of resources, hints and most of all compassion/understanding ~ she has 3 children, one of whom is autistic and homeschooled them even when it was still cultish progressive ~ I left with a plan and a smile!
so now my new job is principal/lead teacher at "Envision Academy" with a student enrollment of ONE! Did I say NEVER??? I have a feeling God is laughing pretty dang hard thinking "when are you gonna learn child?"

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

welcome to the hotel sherwood....

My dahling, gorgeous friend Jen is getting married to Shane who we adore in 17 days!!! I take FULL credit for making that match!! Everyone is coming to Charleston to celebrate the big day! Mike and I LOVE having people at the house...truth be told we don't want to miss any of the fun so we've invited people to stay with us...we just have a few more things to do on the house and have put project "get that sh*t done" in full effect!
we are renting so of course EVERYTHING (except the kick ass hardwood floors) are builder grade = CRAP .... we are very fortunate that the landlord has given us free reign on the house - all of our projects are upgrades but it's not our house so we don't want to put too much into it - enough to not cringe when we go in a room without it costing so much we want to take it with us when we go...
i don't think there's anything a nice coat of white paint can't make better and brighter except white paint AND rubbed bronze spray paint! ahhh instant smile
it is amazing how changing knobs from brass to rubbed bronze can change an entire look even on your linen closet (no pictures of the inside - too messy)
our vanity is uber sad...there is seriously nothing cute about this area - mike and i have been trying to figure out what to put in there knick knack and picture wise to try and help the poor thing...its.just.too.sad.
ugh, the only thing the crisp white paint and rubbed bronze did was make the top even more pitiful....does anyone have ANY ideas about how to pretty it up?? i am even willing to do a CHEAP "cost effective" resurfacing!! what does one put in a vanity before you get into the bathroom as decor??? HELP?!?!?!

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

obsessed....maybe a bit too much!

YES i have a problem!?!? they say the first step is admitting it! i can't seem to help myself ~ HELLO MY NAME IS DENA AND I LOVE BUFFALO CHECK!
I saw this on pinterest and thought it wouldn't be too bad for the boys' room? you want something "cute" but they are boys! When asked about it they said they wanted a "gamecock room" omg - how can i sneak orange into this room..hahaha
I may not have gotten orange in there but buffalo check?? OF COURSE!! this is their room in progress...we've still got some work to do!!
I've had this chair since annie was a baby...buffalo check timeless? check!
I saw this on http://oakridgerevival.blogspot.com/2012/03/i-heart-ikea.html
at the exact same moment one of my friends checked in at ikea on fb (our closest one is 3 hours away) presto chango and this is what our bed looks like now!! (before pictures later)
hahaha...no you aren't seeing things - that is check drawer liners!! we were walking through lowe's and i saw it soooo.......
now my drawers are lined AND i found these dish towels at Big Lots for $2 each I bought like 20 bc i didn't want to ever run out!! (and they're organic - haha)
mom and i (mostly - really all mom) i couldn't find the fabric i wanted anywhere - this is a little darker than i wanted but it looks fine - kitchen curtain (how to to follow)
I have been looking and dreaming and telling mike if i could just get check dishes i would be the happiest girl in the world - i went on pinterest this morning and SEE THESE!! yes, i clicked the magic link to make sure they were for real!! guess what just went to the top of my wish list?!?!?!?! so....do i have a problem?? what are you obsessed with in your house???