Hello? Anybody Home?

Yep! We're back! With exciting news, house updates, and more!

Yes, it's been a long, long time since I've posted anything on this blog. So, to my loyal readers (if there are any left), thank you for your patience!

While a break in blogging became a sudden necessity at the end of June due to an unusually busy summer/fall and several life-changing events that occurred, I am hoping to be back in the swing of things just in time for...

THE ARRIVAL OF OUR BABY BOY!

Yes, this is it. The official announcement of announcements. A little late in the game, perhaps, but better than nothing at all. I found out I was pregnant on June 19th and had a 7 week ultrasound to confirm it on July 3rd. We shared with family shortly after that.

If I felt like giving a full history now, I could go into the fertility treatments, miscarriage, and surprises that led up to this pregnancy. But I think I'll save that for another time if it deems appropriate.

For now, I'll say that we are so excited and blessed to have a healthy, growing baby boy who is due on February 23rd, 2013.

Speaking of baby boy, here he is at 20 weeks - with a cute, button nose, feisty personality (according to the ultrasound technician), and all the right *ahem* parts...

Immediately following the ultrasound that determined it was a boy, Joey and I immediately went to Target and bought some boy gifts. I purchased a few newborn outfits, and Joey got the baby his first superhero movie (that he won't be watching for a while).

Amidst the chaos of pregnancy, we are nursery-planning, bathroom-remodeling, and living up the holiday season. I've already had a baby shower. I've been on 2 trips to visit family in Maine (one for my grandmother's funeral) in the last few months. I just don't know when we've ever been busier.

BUT I will try to keep you updated with our ongoing changes in life and home as best possible.

Look forward to a few posts coming up on random topics like holiday decorating, nursery planning, and baby bumps. In no particular order...

(P)inspiration Time!

It's time for a PINTEREST update! Oh yeah. Don't think I haven't been pinning away during these hot summer days. I don't think the world wide web is going to run out of pinable items any time soon!

Psst - don't you love that you can add anything after the prefix "pin" and make it into a new cool word related to pinterest? Great, right?!

So, here are some of my latest diggs...

1. Bathroom Inspiration: I've pinned a TON Of bathrooms recently. Probably because our full bath is due it's major remodel in the next 6-12 months. So, I'm already schemin' and dreamin' (and rhymin'). I'm loving white, bright, and lots of pretty subway tile.

2. Living Room Inspiration: Sooo many living rooms I LOVE! From wrap-around bookcases to stone fireplaces and awesome pendant light fixtures to beautiful board and batten walls and wood-planked ceilings, these living rooms have so many elements I love! The last pic is my favorite though.

3. Organization Nation: I love the idea of creating a little cabinet on the side of the fridge to hang a mop or hold some cleaning supplies. It wouldn't have to be very deep to store a lot of stuff.

Have extra wall space in the closet? Install wall-mounting brackets and set baskets on them for storing socks, scarves, purses, or other belongings.

And here is a cleaning schedule I would follow if I didn't have to go to work all day. As of now, I cram most of this into the weekend. Boo.

4. Tips and Tricks: I'll share the one tip I tried recently - Miracle Laundry Whitening Solution

Here is what the article calls for: Hot Water, 1 cup Laundry Detergent, 1 cup POWDERED dishwasher detergent, 1 cup bleach, and 1/2 cup borax.

It recomends filling the laundry tub so that the water is just covering the items and let it soak for a while (like a couple hours or overnite for bad stains). Then run the wash as usual.

Here's what I did...

1. I used all the ingredients except the borax (cuz I have no clue what that is and I was too lazy to go to the store and find it).
2. I poured the ingredients into the washing machine first
3. Then I filled the machine with hot water about 1/2 way - then insterted the laundry - then filled it the rest of the way. I had a big load. So, I needed a lot of hot water.
4. I then let the tub churn around a couple times - just to mix everything together and get it a little sudsy.
5. Then I stopped it and let the items soak for about 30 minutes.
6. Then I ran the load as usual.

I did this for my white King-sized sheets and pillowcases which I've had for 8 years and are now a slightly grayish/off-white color. It worked wonders! Nice and white again!

I need to try this on our not-so-white socks, undershirts, towels, and washcloths.

Not sure how well this will work on badly stained items. And not sure how much the missing borax ingredient would make a difference. But it's worth a try!


So, there you have my favorite recently pinned items. Now it's your turn to pin away!

Pins in order: 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10

Tool Time: Chip It! by Sherwin Williams

Ever need help picking out the right paint color? Ever see a great inspiration photo and wonder what paint colors were used in that room?

I'm sure most of you can answer "yes" and "yes" to both of those questions. Well, in case you haven't already heard, Sherwin Williams created a website designed to help pick out paint colors for you! Genius!

The website is http://letschipit.com/ will let you turn any picture online into a color palette.

There is an instruction video (which I did not watch), and you can see there is a tool you can drag to your tool bar (or right click and add to your "Favorites" if you use Internet Explorer) and it will place a little "Chip It!" tool onto your internet bar (much like the "Pin It" button for Pinterest).

Once you have the Chip It! icon on your toolbar, pull up a favorite picture on the internet... I used one I saved Pinterest... and with the picture pulled up, click the "Chip It!" button on your toolbar. Your page will then look like this...

Once you hover your mouse over the picture you want to use, a little Chip It! button will appear for you to click...

And once you click it, a pop up box will appear with coordinating paint colors from Sherwin Williams...

Ta Da! Shop away for your paint!

Here is another Navy room that I love...

...but it is a slightly different navy than the first room...



Chip It! suggests the color "Dark Night" for this second room, and when comparing it with the "Bunglehouse Blue" in the first room, I think Dark Night seems more like a true Navy color. It's a bit deeper with less gray undertones to it.

It's nice that you can compare similar colors with this tool! The website will also let you create an account and save your color palettes online.

And of course, you don't have purchase your paint at Sherwin Williams. You can grab their paint chips and take them to any other store to color-match for you. We do this at Menards most of the time.

So what do you think? Helpful? Fun? Try if for yourself!

Note: All opinions are 100% mine. I was not paid to advertise/comment on this website tool.