Getting there ...

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
This beholder is hoping that her kitchen will be back in working order very soon and be just as beautiful as the vision she has in her dreams.




It's not exactly Starbucks but believe me, this scene would be a lot uglier if I didn't have my morning coffee. I came downstairs to find this "set up" one morning and had to laugh at the normalness of morning coffee amongst all the chaos.

I think I can see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. Well, I'll be able to once we have electricity in the kitchen :)

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Together time

You may remember a few weeks back when I shared my goals for the year. One of them was to spend more quality time with my husband and get reacquainted.

Well, this afternoon we did just that. I'm not sure a romance novel has ever been written about two lovers standing on ladders with matching spackle knives, gazing into each other’s eyes over a spray bottle while scraping white gunk off their ceiling. Probably not for good reason!



 It wasn't exactly the romantic afternoon together that I had envisioned but, we were side by side sharing many laughs. Sort of. When I wasn't busy removing spackle from my hair or what had fallen down my shirt. I know, sexy!

By the time we were finished, it looked like a flour bomb had gone off in our kitchen. The dust and globs had covered everything including us.



Who invented popcorn ceilings?
Why?
They are hideous!

I will NEVER buy a home with them again.

We agreed that now was the time to remove the nasty white nubs while the kitchen is under repair. I'm willing to pay someone when we move onto the living room.

This will all be a vision of the past in a few short days.

My new granite counters will be here in no time, my ceiling will be a pristine white and I'll be enjoying my new gas cook top. I can't wait.

Feel free to stop by for dinner.

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Ready for guests ...

...in a few short days {7 to be exact if you're counting; and I am}.

Our kitchen makeover/redesign has been a self employed project {read husband}



The cabinets have been painted.
 I loved the design of our cabinets but not the color of stain. After several trips to kitchen shops and endless searching, we decided to paint them {again, read husband}. They turned out wonderfully!


We have purchased all new stainless appliances with the exception of the cook top on the island. This will be addressed when our new island and countertops are installed.

One of the last items to be overhauled are the pantries ~ ugh!
Obviously, a man who didn't have a family or cook built my pantry ~ see exhibit A below.
There is at least 6 inches of unused space on each and every shelf in both of my kitchen pantries.


The shelves are also all the same height. Needless to say, the functionality of this space is not optimum. I am forced to store many of my small appliances in our secondary pantry located in the basement. While this does help with my workout regiment {up and down the stairs} it's not very efficient in the time department.




Exhibit A

On Saturday morning my husband announced that he was going to gut on the pantry. With joy and much hesitation, I began to "rearrange" our pantry goods ... all over the house. I just hope I can locate all that has been hidden during this project.


What do you think of my Easter decor?
Does it have the "welcome to our home" look I was working towards? No, I didn't think so.

I have managed to make all our meals this weekend in this MESS. Truth be told, this is my idea of camping ~ it's as close to roughing it as I'm willing to experience.



As long as the coffee maker is with in reach and working, no human should be hurt.

Please note that freshly cut daffodils from the yard help to bring a bit of cheer to the utter chaos.

While trying to keep an open mind and an up beat disposition, I'm envisioning endless seating options with the addition of the doors in our family room. I think that each door will comfortably seat at least 8.

What? You don't have doors on saw horses, in front of your fire place? I think it says "please come in and enjoy the comforts of our home." OR ... maybe not so much! 

Keep your eyes open, I'm quite certain we're going to be featured in the next addition of Traditional Home ~ ha!

{don't mind the circle with the slash through it}

My husband ASSURES me that this will be cleaned up and our pantries will be the envy of all who enter our home by Sunday afternoon.



If for some reason we are not able to entertain in our home, I pinky promise you Momma Henley that I will pick up the entire bill after Easter brunch ;)

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It's been busy, busy, busy around our home ~ I know you can all relate!

Last Sunday was my Art Show.

It went very well but with all the prep and then attending the event,

I didn't have a weekend to catch up let alone get ahead.

This afternoon I'm have my "natural" hair color touched up {read dye job!}

along with a few inches taken off.

Afterwards I'm dashing off to deliver my holiday tassels to a cute shop in Mystic for the Christmas Stroll this evening. If you live in the area, it's a lovely evening and really puts you the Christmas spirit!

During my free time {ha, ha} I'm putting the finishing touches on our holiday decor. The tree will be arriving this week. My goal is to have everything else decorated beforehand.

This weekend welcomes the Holiday Home Tour on Saturday and on Sunday my annual Cookie Exchange.

Did I mention that my husband decided the holiday season would be a good time to remove the popcorn ceiling in the foyer along with painting the walls, trim and doors?

Not to mention remove the runner from the stairs and paint the risers.

Yes, it's always fun to add a mess to a chaotic time.

He promises to have it all done before the weekend. UGH!

I'm starting my morning off with a Starbucks Peppermint Mocha before I greet the excited children who remind me each morning how many days before Christmas vacation begins! :)

Enjoy your day!

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