Sunday ramblings...

Whew...I'm pooped...I've been cleaning our house all day while the hubby worked out in the garage, changing the oil and washing and cleaning my Rav...(Whoo hoo! She was pretty dirty!) I'm trying to get as much finished around the house today as I can...I have the nursery tonight at church, and I want to be able to sit and relax tomorrow on my day off...Let's see what I've got checked off my list thus far:

• Vaccuumed, dusted, changed the sheets, and made the bed in our room.
• Vaccuumed the dust bunnies throughout the rooms with hardwood.
• Finished several loads of laundry (I can't imagine how much more I'll have to do once Ava gets here! N and I create a TON of laundry, I honestly don't see how it's possible!).
• Cleaned out and organized our (2) kitchen junk drawers.
• Wrapped a couple of Christmas presents.
• Cleaned out and organized the junk drawer in the utility/laundry room.

Now, the list that I would like to accomplish by the end of tomorrow the month:

• Clean out and wipe down the refrigerator.
• Organize our hall linen closet.
• Clean the guest bedroom.
• Finish cleaning and organizing the utility/laundry room
• Finish wrapping presents!

I think I've officially started my "nesting." At least Baby A's room is ready and waiting for her!

Before & After: Master Bedroom!

We painted, installed new carpet, and put in a new ceiling fan/light fixture. And then later bought new furniture! Whoo hoo!

Before:

As you can see, the maroon carpet also made an appearance in this room...and this is really the only before picture I have of our room...

After, but before the new furniture...

And Ta-Da!

It's amazing what an actual bedroom suite will do to a room...LOL.
And we actually have more on the walls, particularly above the bed, now.

Another view:

The door on the left is our closet, and you can see out through the hall into the now-nursery.

I still don't feel like our room is "finished," but it's definitely come a long way!

Office/Studio Inspiration...

I've been on a kick lately of drooling over cute little offices, studios, craft rooms, work spaces, whatever you want to call them...here are a few of my faves:

From Decorology , found at Martha Stewart

Tiny House, from the adorable Lori Marie, at PrettyLittleThings

From the awesome Nicole at Making It Lovely

All from Jen at The Cottage Nest ...very vintage-y and comfy!

As you can tell, I love colorful, light, and airy spaces...would love to incorporate these ideas into my own home!

The Goods...

We had the best time in TN with our friends Brian and Rachael...the condo we stayed in was amazing...even though we only got to stay for one night! :( Rachael and I hit up the Coach Factory outlet, while we dragged the hubs around with us...We actually had to wait in line just to get inside...it was kind of crazy...Nick said it would be a single man's heaven to work there...LOL...there were women everywhere with arm-loads of bags and wallets...I loved every minute of it! And now for the moment I'm sure you've been waiting for...my Christmas present! Whoo! It's extra roomy, so when the baby gets here, it'll be plenty big enough for all those extras! We also found handbags for both of our mothers, which were probably the two hardest to buy Christmas presents for! Score!

Us posing in front of the fireplace...this is the first picture we have of us together while I've been pregnant!

Rachael and I...the kitchen was beautiful! I want an exact replica in my next house!
(More on that later...)

Getaway...

Tomorrow we're off to TN to visit Nick's old roommate and his fiance' in Knoxville, good friends of ours...and then stay in a super-sweet condo in Pigeon Forge...(River Stone Resort) Can't wait for this little getaway, it'll be nice to just go and visit...and we're also hopefully going to wrap up some Christmas shopping...for moi in particular, we're hitting up the Coach Factory Outlet store...Here's a sampling of some of my current favorites that are on the shelves right now...I really like the "satchel" style...but who knows...I may find a baby bag that's a good price...and then again, I may come home empty-handed, (but that's doubtful!) ;)

The "Op Art Sabrina," $298.00 retail
(I love this style and color)

The "Zoe Signature Top Handle Pouch," $178.00 retail (not bad!)

The "Hamptons Vintage Leather Mini Shopper," $398.00 retail
Gah, but this one is my fave!
This one *needs* me to bring it home...immediately...

The "Hamptons Signature Carryall," $298.00 retail
I love the structure and style of this one...

The "Signature Stripe Patent Multifunction Tote," retail $398.00
A.K.A. the "baby bag," would also be an adorable work tote!

Anyhoo-That's just a small sampling of goodies that I would be more than happy to bring back with us, er, me! The hubs already knows his gift...(we aren't very good at keeping secrets!) But I knew that if he thought I didn't get it for him, he'd go out and buy it himself...so I didn't have a choice, really! I fought the Black Friday crowds for this, waking early because I was paranoid the stores would be sold out, and it's really the only thing he's asked for:

The X-Box 360

I'm tired of hearing about...

We should both be pretty happy this Christmas! I'm suddenly feeling a tad guilty, what with the economy and everything all crazy right now...but I promise we are pretty frugal with our money...we rarely buy things like this for ourselves...except on occasions like birthdays and Christmas...so there...I feel justified. Hey, we should all indulge every now and then, right?
(And hello, I'm outlet shopping! It could be a lot worse!)

And I absolutely cannot forget to mention what Sunday will bring for us:

Breakfast at the Apple Barn! You must eat here if given the chance...you won't regret!

It is absolutely delicious!

So hopefully on Sunday I'll return with some cute pics, good memories,

and maybe even a shiny new handbag!

Before & After: Round 1

The most recent room re-do we just finished is our baby girl's nursery! Before, this was basically the "office/catch-all/junk/least-worked-on" room in the entire house...We were more concerned with the more lived in areas of our home...and therefore this pitiful room fell to the back burner, maroon carpet be danged...(Which, as you will see in later posts, was not only in this room, but also the living room, master bedroom, hallway, and guest bedroom...*shudder*) So, you can imagine my immense joy when that hideous excuse for flooring was replaced! Basically, we slapped on some random blue color and threw some curtains on the window and presto! We were officially finished with that room...for at least a year and couple of months...sad, I know...but we had better things to do...like make babies...LOL.

Hideous maroon carpet is barely visible in this picture...but trust me, it's there!

Ahhh...that's better! Pretty pink and light cream walls with a little chair rail...there is nothing paint cannot fix! Not to mention new carpet! (Baseboards are now down, in case you were wondering...)


Her bedding that I just had to have...which was also a *deal* found at TJ Maxx in Cincinnati...Wendy Bellissimo's "Floral Patchwork", which originally retailed for $229.99, and was even on sale at BRU for $129.99...yeah, we paid $79.99 for the set! I love a good deal! It's adorable...I couldn't have lived with myself if I had passed this up..


My mom and I after the shower...we are so blessed! You can kind of see a little more of the room and decor...we've since added more to the walls, etc. I'll post a better picture later...

Favorites of the Day:

I was perusing Layla Grace on my lunch break, and found this gem: Isn't it beautiful...In a Shabby Chic-meets-Granny-meets-I just want to run and jump into all those throw pillows! I adore the subtle blue hues in the bedskirt, pillows, and curtain...This just brings my all out girly-ness side...And not to mention the adorable lamps! I could sit in that room all day and be totally content!

AND...drum roll please...my dream...One day it will be mine!

Oh, how I adore craft rooms!

This comes to us from the lovely and fabulous Pottery Barn...

First time for everything...or maybe 2nd...

The first go-round at this attempt to record fun stuff in our life went bust, due to my laziness and the fact I didn't like using googlepages, so here I am with a new and improved "memory keeper"! I love reading blogs, and I think it's a great way to keep friends and family informed, as well as keeping track of the important things in life...so...here we go! My hubby N and I live in KY, which everyone here considers a part of the "south", so I love to think that I have some kind of Southern hospitality running in my blood...(F.Y.I. The title of my blog comes from our last name...which is always mispelled, so I decided to just shorten it to the "B's.") I love decorating our first home (even though I'm not really good at it, and hubby actually gives a lot of input) but we are always looking for a bargain and something new to add...it's taken a little over a year, but for the most part, each room is actually furnished, and just needs a fine polishing to be finished...but are you ever really finished when it comes to your life and home? I didn't think so...We love DIY projects, and have really put a lot of sweat equity into our first home...We bought our home as a foreclosure, and it definitely needed a LOT of TLC...and $$$$! Before and after pics will follow soon...I'm amazed at what a fresh coat of paint can really do for a room, or piece of furniture, etc.

My goals for this month include:

• Organzing utility/laundry room
• Rearranging the guest bedroom
• Making sure everything is ready for baby! (e.d.d. 2/11/09!)

We'll see how far I get with those...