THE LATEST ON THE LIVING ROOM AND A BEDROOM REDO

It's been quite a quiet week.  I posted last on Monday {I told you I would be posting more often!} and it was a gorgeous 50 degrees here in Chicago.  I spent the day indoors baking and cooking and doing all sorts of mundane things with the windows open and a warm breeze coming through.  Tuesday morning I woke up and hit the ground running...I had a list a mile long of errands to run.  Before I left, The Husband nononchalantly said, "It's 14 degrees out.".  So I bundled up, warmed up the car and headed out for gas, a trip to the pharmacy, the bank and finally grocery shopping.  By then it felt a lot colder and the wind had picked up.  Flurries of snow were blowing around my head as I tried to find my car.  Since I shop every two weeks I had 2 carts.  It was next to impossible to to load the bags with my mittens on so I took them off and my hands were practically frozen when I finished.  Upon arriving home I saw no familiar cars parked in the street so I had to lug about 15 bags into the house.  It was one of those smack your hand against your forehead kind of moments.  Why didn't I do all of this the day before?  The day before when we were flirting with spring?  I guess I just do everything bass ackward!

My little Layla Louise is at the vet right now as we speak.  This morning I dropped her off to have her neutered.  I have to say I was a little beyond worry.  Partly the surgery and also because she was going to be spending the night there to recover.  After awhile I decided she wasn't going to spend a night in a cage.  What if she woke up, not in our bed with The Husband and Milo snoring?  Without me tossing and turning and making forays into the kitchen for cookies?  So when I brought her at 8:00 a.m. {a sure sign of my love to be up that early} I told the vet I would be bringing her home that day.  She calmly crossed off a $75.00 charge for an overnite stay.  Wow, $75.00 for her to sleep in a cage with no one there at all!  So, it's 5:00 right now and I will be picking her up at 6:30.  When Milo was neutered, {up in Michigan where it's a lot less expensive} he was walking into wallS when I brought him home!  She will have stitches so I'll be watching over her.  I wonder if they will give us pain pills {and some for her, ha ha}?  I'll let you know how she does.

Isn't this a beauty?  I wish I could say it were mine.  It's an early bridal shower present for Emily from us.  The color is Pistachio.  She is so daring.  I guess it's the designer in her.  And I'm not just showing this beauty off, I wanted to tell you that The Husband found it at a website called Everything Kitchens and it was marked $60.00 below the SALE price at Macys!!  You have to check out this website, especially if you are looking for one of the bad boys.  I can't live without mine.

While I play around with the waiting game on the living room redo, I wanted to change some things around in the bedroom.  The bed currently has a white comforter on it with berry colored accents...a throw, pillows and curtains.  This picture is from a year and a half ago when I was using this Pottery Barn duvet, which of course I paid too much for.  I want to go back to this ever since I found the European style shams on sale...I just have to take it to a laundromat to wash it in one of those jumbo machines.  But you know what really bugged me and I suppose it's because I can be a little OCD, I didn't like when it got lumpy from the down comforter inside.  Does that happen to any of you with a duvet cover?  I used to shake the heck out of it, try to smooth it, practically climbed into it to straighten it out and it just always looked...lumpy.  If you have any lumpiness tips, please share.  I am going to look for a big area rug and some curtain panels.  This was just too much of an investment to pack away because of...well you know.  

Now, some randomness, as if you haven't had enough already.  The painter for the living room and kitchen has been hired and hopefully he can start next week.  I am going to go with a creamy white shade.  If any of you have used a similar color, let me know the name and brand.  Paint chips can be so deceiving, I really want it to be soft, if you know what I mean.  The hideous wallpaper on the soffit in the kitchen will come down and I think then my vintage bowls and cake stands I keep on top of my cabinets will pop.  I am beyond excited!

And more news...I have been emailing back and forth with a sweet blogger over at Comfy House, her name is Melanie and she lives out in the Western suburbs of Chicago.  And we are going to meet {smile}.  We are looking at the first week or so of March.  If you haven't met her, check out her blog.  She just totally redid her bathroom and she has awesome before and after pictures.  

And finally, I have joined the ranks of those using Pinterest.  I haven't invested a lot of time in it yet.  I'm trying to watermark my pictures at Picmonkey and although I'm following all the instructions and saving them correctly, the watermark doesn't show up when I download them for a post.  Anyone know anything about that?  Gee, I have a lot of questions in this post!  And by the way, my policy is that you can use any of my photos anytime you want, I'd be flattered.  Just link back to me, okay?

Now, I'm going to hit Publish and then chew my nails a bit more until I have to pick up my little Layla.  Milo will probably be all over her.  He was crying when he saw me leave with her, not because he was going to miss her, just because he's the one who always gets the rides in the car!  She's going to be sore...should I keep them apart?  Oh no, more questions!!  See you soon! :)

I'm joining Debra at Common Ground for Be inspired Friday and Simple And Sweet Friday over at Rooted In Thyme.