Trash to Treasure Tuesday....Gigantor Edition

Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, OH MY GOSH!!!  I'm so excited about this one I could pee!

Oh, uh, hey there.  What's up?  Long time no see.  I know, I GET IT!  You'll all be SO GLAD to know that the move is COMPLETE!  We are officially in the new house, all is unpacked and decorated and we're moving along.  Also, happy to report that Workshop is 5 days away from being completed and I can resume my life as I once knew it.  Which frankly, upsets my kids, because they rather enjoy going to Grammas or Aunt Jennys every day and playing with cousins and friends.  Whatever......they'll get over it.  Right. So anyway, point is, I'll be back to posting and I know you'll all sleep better knowing that.  But for realsies, I'm so looking forward to July, since it's my one month a year where I get to do NOTHING.  Which means, I will be doing TONS of projects.  I mean, I have an entire living room to completely revamp.  Look out thrift stores, Ima comin.

Aaaaaand now, back to todays trash to treasure.

It went a little something like this.  We looked at this house, we liked this house.  We decided to get said house, and then, we GOT this house.  I mentioned to my darlingest friend Chris, the builder of all things spectacular that holy crap I need an island.  The kitchen is ginormous and is screaming for one.  And then I sighed a pitiful sigh, and said, "someday I'm sure I'll be able to find one."  He rather foolishly piped up that all I needed to do was find an old kitchen table I liked and some kind of cabinet and he could just whip one up for me.  Whaaaaaa?  You do NOT tell me such things, 'cause I will jump on that train faster than you can say white on rice!  And I did.

I recalled seeing what I thought to be the "perfect" old table at a random goodwill only a few days earlier.  I took a chance and drove all the hooty hoo way out there on a Saturday, and lo and behold, that table was STILL there.  I took it as a sign.  This island was gonna be MINE!  So, for 25 bones I got a big old solid table.  Next, I meandered over to the local Stardust, which is a store entirely full of crap that is ripped out of houses and you can buy for dirt cheap.  I found a fabo drawer unit and snatched it up for 18 little dollars.  I was on.my.way people.  I promptly got them both home, sanded the bejebus out of that table top, and painted the legs and the drawer unit in a pretty semi gloss black.  And there they sat for a couple weeks, on my carport.  Finally, Chris came and retrieved them.  Then, they sat at his house for awhile longer.  FINALLY, under intensive time pressure, he whipped it together in about 12 hours.  And today, TODAY......because he loves me so, he delivered my wonderful, fabulous, beautiful kitchen island.  It is worth mentioning that they had to completely remove my ENTIRE sliding glass door (I HATE sliding glass doors) in order to get the island in.  But, they did it and now it sits gloriously in its place, looking majestic and lovely and PERFECT!!

Huh?  you want to see it?  Fiiiiiine, if I MUST!

BEFORE:
My apologies for being the worlds suckiest picture taker.

The drawers are sooo awesome.  Divided on top and SUPER deep on the bottom.  Which is a good thing, since I lost my one and only big drawer to the new oven we had to get.

Yeah, totally standard table of the 90's right there.  Actually, it looks almost just like my table, only BIGGER.

Prepare yourselves.  Because those two pieces became THIS.

AFTER:

Could you just DIE?????  Do you love it as much as me?  Oh well, it's ok if you don't.  But really, this is about as big as you get in trash to treasuring.  For somewhere under 100 bucks, I have this beauty and it makes my kitchen so much cooler.

All thanks to THIS guy......

THANKS Chris Dane.....you're the BEST!

And, just because.....

A picture of my Daddy and friend Tim putting the door back IN after dismantling it to get the island in.

Happy hunting!

Oh no you di'int......

Right, so here's the deal.  June is hideous and I'm it's b*%$@.  I have not had 2 seconds to sit and blog, or read blogs, or breathe, or shower, or whatever.  Between projects at the "new" house, packing up and moving out of the old house, kids workshop daily, etc.  I'm not just a hot mess, I'm a hot TRANNY mess.  I posed this question today....."would it be so wrong to just not wash my hair or do it for the duration, or at least until Sunday?"  This whole getting ready everyday puts a REAL damper on my schedule.  No really, would that be so wrong?  Whatever, moving on.  Here is the REAL reason I'm writing today.

I've decided to go in a completely NEW direction for my living room.  Don't even get me started on the amazeballs chairs I got and the great deal they were.  Can't WAIT until i figure out how to recover them and paint them and show them to you all.  So anyway, new direction.  Therefore I need some ideas.  So I've spent a little time on the ol' internet looking at some decorating.  Following is my list of some serious missteps I found along the way.  Makes me wonder what the hee haw people are thinking.

FIRST: (Do keep in mind these are pictures from CURRENT design magazines.  these are NOT from, oh, the 70's.)

Oh no you di'int..........

What?  Just WHAT happened here?  So the designer said..."I've GOT IT.  A GIANT fan."  Perfection.  Who does that? And really, just everything in this room is fug.  And looking at this picture depresses me.  Like LITERALLY makes me feel depressed. My eyeballs may have bled a little on this.

Well, until I saw this gem that is.

This deserves a WTF?

Green is something that should be used in moderation people.  Not punch you in the face.

Right.  Also in need of a punch in the face is the douchey designer who says..."you know what looks awesome?  A huge, unruly stack of books, just laying all over the floor or coffee table."  WHO thinks this is ok?  It is NOT!  You know what happens with a ridiculous stack of books?  I'll tell you.  They get covered in thick layers of dust.  And that's because, NOONE wants to move all the damn books to dust them.  Or, they get thrown, stepped on and ripped by toddler terrors.  SUCH a BAD idea.

Hey, you know what this room is missing?....

a GIANT picture of a bird.  Oh wait.  GOT IT!  And can we even talk about the fireplace surround?  What's happening.  Dogs chasing eachother?  Llamas?  Help me.  Oh, and wait....there's that ridiculous stack of books again.

The only good thing...I like the chairs.  Well, IF they had actual covering on them.  White should NOT be allowed as a choice.  Doesn't anyone spill?

Mary Kay called and she's PISSED you stole her living room.

I have one word for you......NO!

Wait, I have more words:

Pink shoud NEVER be an option on any wall, in any room of your home.

NOPE!

What stands out here?

Trying to figure out the posing for THAT picture over the fireplace.

You know what Alice, you sit sideways and look at a book.  Meredith you stand straight on, arms folded, oh and Ethel, you know what would be fantastic....YOU stand naked.  Makes TOTAL sense in the scheme of things.

And don't you think she woulda questioned the painter even a little bit?

What the hell?

And finally....

I HATE rattan.  I don't understand it in anyway as a furniture choice.  I don't trust it.  I don't want to sit on it, and I most certainly don't want it as my living room furniture.

Therefore.....all of THESE designers, whoever they may be are totally FIRED!

Ok, rant over.

In other news, we move on Saturday.

I'm not ready!

Cleaning this house seems to be the most overwhelming thought.  Why do walls collect so much dust and dirt?  And refrigerators gross me out.  I'm tired thinking about it.

Decorator drama and naked nellies,

Allyson

Carrrrrrrr Truhbul

Wayyy back in 1995 when wedding videos were still a newish thing to do, they used to spend a lot of time "talking" to everyone at the wedding.  Particularly, they talked to family members.  I HATED that part. Nothing, and I do mean NOTHING makes me feel more awkward than being video taped just talking to a camera.  UGH!  But, I digress.  In 1995 my sister got married, and she happened to get married one week before her soon to be brother in law.  Anyway, on their video there is a moment with LJ (the bro in law) where the videographer caught him outside the Temple.  He says to the camera  "Troy, Jenny, so sorry I missed your wedding.  Carrrrrr Truhbul."  And just the way he said it was so funny.  That phrase has become a permanent part of family "speak".  We just bring it up for fun, or if it fits a situation, or whatever.  We also copy Troys Mom, because at the end of their video she says, in her cute little southern accent "It was just allsoperfect."  And yeah, ok, i realize now, you just HAVE to hear the inflections of these things to make sense (but they'll be funny to my family members who read this).  Just, try and work with me here, ok?!

This was all a very long explanation for my post title.  And the fact that the proverbial S@#* hit the fan, or the bottom dropped out, whichever you prefer.  It went a little something like this for us last Tues. as we left kids workshop and headed home.

"Something is WRONG with my car.  You need to follow me home."

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know.  On my way to work I heard two loud popping sounds, then the car jerked and it just felt wierd."

"Ok, well I have to pick the kids up from my parents, so I will follow you there and then home."
(A minor argument over the stupidness of that ensued, and then he decided in a huff that he would just brave it.)

"Fine.  But I hope nothing happens to me."

He got in his car, I watched him back out, and drive away.  All looked to be working fine.  Just as I reached my car I heard a HUGE CLUNK, thud, screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeech.  Then silence.

I thought...please don't be Jere, please don't be Jere.

I walked out to the main drive of the parking lot and there he was, car stopped in the middle, tire jutting at a hideous angle.  He got out.  I thought, please just be the tire fell off, please just be the tire fell off.

No such luck.

The tire was now completely holding UP the car and denting the wheel well.  Worse yet, the entire axle was ON.THE.GROUND.  This could NOT be a good thing.  There was a groove in the asphalt for at least 10 ft. from it dragging while Jere worked desperately to stop the car.  And there were bits of car strewn about too.

AWESOME!

"Yep, guess there was something wrong.!"

It's amazing how totally calm I remained.  I don't know why, or how.  Generally I'd be a bawling mess.  Just knowing that money was going to be involved.  But, nope, totally calm.  Called Triple A and ordered a tow truck and then hung out for nearly an hour.

This can't be a good thing.

Pretty sure tires aren't supposed to turn out quite like this.

YEP!  This is NOT a good thing.

Nice groove in the ground huh?  At least we'll always have a "souveignere"(how the crap do you spell that word?) of the great car debacle of '11.

After an hour wait, the coolest tow truck driver ever showed up.  Our buddy Julius, with his corn rows and ultra calm demeanor.  He was just so cool.  I liked him immediately.  I asked if this was gonna be hideous.  He just looked me deep in the eye for a little minute and then nodded his head in the affirmative.  Well, at least he was honest.  After a goodly amount of work on his part he finally got the car loaded up.

Awww Milly, what a sad state of affairs.

(Jere named the car Millie 8 years ago, because she was  "thoroughly modern.")

We dropped her off at the mechanics (who was now closed) and hoped for the best.

The best was NOT to come.

It was a bad break.

Knuckle joint and ball joint snapped, therefore ripping the entire axle out.

NINE.HUNDRED.DOLLARS later she would be fixed.

Somebody please just shoot me now.

But you know what the WORST part of it all was?  Due to the trauma and long time it took to take care of the situation (plus just the insanity of the week) I completely missed my darling Erikas baby shower that night.  I'm still bitter about it.  She lives in CA for goodness sake.  Came to town for a shower, and BOOM, I missed it.  Stupid car!  Stupid moving.  UGH!

So yeah, there has definitely been

Carrrrrrrrr Truhbul!

Knuckle joints and busted balls,

Allyson


In completely unrelated news....I LURVE So You Think You Can Dance and could not be happier that it is on!  Freaking fantastic show the otehr night.  So much dancing, so much squeeee.  Also, LOVE "The Voice." What a cool show.  Blake Sheltons team is tragic.  Christina Aguelerra is a freakshow, but girl knows what she's doin.  Adam Levine is hot and sexy.  The end!

Trash to Treasure Tuesday House Projects

Moving blows, we all know that.  BUT, the upside here is, I have PROJECTS to do!

The other day I decided that I wanted to check some thrift stores for perhaps a round kitchen table (I need one) and also, I wanted a sofa/console table.  I'd been to several stores and found nothing of the sort.  I decided to go to one more and wouldn't you know.....there in the back was not one,  but TWO tables for me to choose from.  They were completely different from eachother, and I shoulda just bought both, but I chose the one I did and I couldn't be happier with my treasure.

     Side note:  I found a really cool shoji (don't know how to spell that) screen at the same time for fifteen bucks.  I'd thought of getting one for awhile to put up while I was teaching lessons, just as a little divider from the kids and chaos.  Anyway...I was carrying it around the store when a manager came up and told me to just rip the tag, and he'd take it up front so I didn't have to bother with it.  I did as i was told and continued my shopping.  This was the day I bought the great play house, and as I as standing up front by the play house, I looked up and watched an old lady walk out the store with my screen.  The manager was walking by right then, and I said, "Ummm, that lady just walked out with my screen."  He turned and saw her and then yelled at the chashiere "Did you just sell that to that lady?  She's the wrong one."  The cashiere was like, "Ummm, she told me it was hers."  And the manager said, NO, THIS lady has the ticket.  Then he turned and apologized to me.  I shrugged my shoulders and said, "well that sucks.  Do you want to just take another 10 bucks off my table?"  To which he quickly replied "Yes, I would love to do that."  SWEET!

And all of this is a reallllllly long way for me to get around to showing you my trash to treasure.  One I'm particularly in love with and can't wait to put in the new house (though I'm quite fond of where it ended up in the "old" house).

BEFORE:

She has great lines, if not a bit shiny.  This table is so cool, the drawers are made of old wood, don't know how to describe it.  But, all I know is, the table is cool.

A quick sanding (and I do mean QUICK), a rinse down and then a spray prime and one can of spray paint later (whole thing took me about 45 minutes to do), I had this:

AFTER:

Doesn't she look like she's ALWAYS belonged there?

Yeah, i thought so too.

Funny how you don't even know your missing something, until it's there.

Not gonna lie.  This little vignette makes me happy every time I walk into the room.  I sorta don't want to take it down and move it.  It just means I'm that much closer to permanently not living here anymore.

Anyway....there you have my sunny makeover for this week.  No worries, got another REDONKULOUS priced find already done, and about a million more swimmin around in my head.  Let's just say, my entire living room is getting a makeover.  Except, I'm using all my same stuff.

Happy Tuesday.

Now go out and treasure hunt.

I'll just be at workshop, singing showtunes and making up choreography and dreaming about packing boxes.

Allyson

OUCH!

Let's get one thing straight............I am getting OLD!  You guys...I literally hurt in every fiber of my being.  Every INCH of my body.  I think what is left of my hair even hurts. Walking is nearly impossible, my feet, don't even go there.  Why is painting so freaking exhausting?

The good news......my bedroom has been re-created (which almost didn't happen) and is done.  The living room is painted, and the kids room is partly painted.  It still needs the detail stripe.

The bad news.....the walls of our new house are evil, as in EVILE, FRU-ITS of the Dev-ILL.  I have NEVER seen walls SUCK paint into them as much or as fast before.  I needed 3 gallons for the lving room, and it still has issues.  2 gallons for the kids room.  And countless re-coats.  Good HELL!  I don't EVER want to paint again.  And I'm pretty sure noone will come help me.  Oh, and also, two of the walls in my room, and 2 in the living room are BLOCK!  As in plaster.  As in IMPOSSIBLE to hang pictures on without a production.  I'm DYING!  Clearly they didn't get the memo that MY style of hanging pics is, eyeball, slam a nail in and hang.  No forethought, no measuring, just hang.  How am I s'posed to deal with crap like block walls?  Sadness.

On the upside, I found two totally fabulous and adorable trash pieces that i turned to treasure.  So excited about that.  Oh, and I painted my front door yellow.  That's fun, right?

My feet are throbbing.

I've started moving stuff into the house.

My back is ZINGING!

Our new shower is really small.  Bummer!

My neck hurts.

The kitchen is huge and fabulous.  I can finally house all my random appliances.

I'm tired!

Tomorrow will truly be a day of rest.  NO thoughts of the house.  Just thoughts about workshop.  And creating a final word sheet, and maybe learning a song or something. 

OH MY GOSH, workshop starts on MONDAY!  Me = scared!

And with that, I'm off to dreamland.

Here is a pic of the fantabulous play house I "stole" for 50 bucks!  Try not to be jealous. (by the way, this is sitting next to the pool fence that I found for a whopping $110.00 and it fits literally perfectly in the space we needed.  Someone is a lookin out for us)

Maggie likes to say...."You get a new house Mommy, so WE got a new house."  That's right kid, one for you, one for ME!

Tired and Pained,

Allyson

Announcing our ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!

Yeah, sorry bout that, if you were waiting on pins and needles all day for the bif announcement.  There was a wee glitch yesterday and then I couldn't make the announcement.  But, things got worked out and now, I CAN!

Ladies and gent.....LADIES!  I am thrilled and terrified and excited to announce that we, the MVP's of Mesatown are.....................................................










MOVING!





We got ourselves one of these:

I'd show you an actual picture of our little house, but it might scare you.  The outside is a little sad and weed overgrown at the moment.  I need to weed out the giant flower boxes and paint the front door and make it cute. But worry not, there will be plenty of pictures to come.

Can you even freaking believe it?  I can't.  I wasn't sure this was EVER gonna happen for us.  I'm FREAKING OUT!  The kids however are super excited and ask every day if we can go to our NEW house yet.  "Is our new house made for us yet?"  It's cute!

To say we're thrilled would be a total understatement.  To say we're terrified would be an even bigger understatement.  This means now WE have to fix broken things, and mow the lawns and take care of the pool. And we have to figure out how to get blinds in EVERY window, and learn how to make grass grow.  BUT, it also means that we DON'T ever have to move again if we don't want to.  It also means that we have a lower payment than we did renting.  It means a big laundry room and a huge kitchen with granite, thank you very much.  It means....PROJECTS!  Hello Trash to Treasure, you will be back in full force.  Shoot, I've already finished the CUTEST makeover of a console table this afternoon.  I'm in love.

We're not going far....just a few streets over.  It's a cute little all brick house on the corner.  I LOVE old houses and all the character they come with.  And we're gaining about 500 sq. feet, that's good.  Unfortunately, it's not in the same ward, which breaks my heart into a million little pieces.  And it's NOT in my beloved little corner neighborhood, but it's close.  I could write an entire post on the sadness in my heart of having to move out of this house.  But, we knew we had 2 years, and in spite of allll my hoping and praying that the owners would change their mind, it didn't happen.  I love EVERYTHING about this little house, and neighborhood, and I would really have lived here forever if allowed.  That being said, after a lot of crying, and sadness and boo hooing, and worrying over this new house.  I think I'm finally on board, and feeling excitement for whatever this next chapter of our lfie brings.  It could be the fact that I get to finally decorate again.  Projects, changing, thrift store searching, etc.

Today.....I happened to find the deal of the century at a local thrift store.  It's a GIANT Little Tikes play house, bay window, front door, opening shudders, sky light, kitchen inside, etc.  It's like big enough for a party of toddlers inside.  And it only cost me 50 bones.  You guys, I have always just figured we'd never have something like that.  They are crazy expensive, even on Craigslist.  So yeah, total awesomeness, and the kids are beside themselves over it.

So, there you have it.

The news is out.  It's all official.  We get the keys tomorrow.  Let the cleaning and painting commence.

Exhausted already,

Allyson