The Most Painted Room In My House

You wouldn't believe how many times I've painted my basement bathroom. It's on its fifth paint color since I moved in and it's probably the least visited room in the entire house. 

Here's the good news... It's finally the right color! I thought I'd walk you through its journey. 

This is the bathroom when I saw it for the first time. It was actually the perfect shade of green and I just didn't realize it. It was flat paint and very dingy and desperately needed freshening up. 

 So I brought a "better" green into the bathroom. It came with plumbing issues... Here it is during the repair process. The other green was a way better match for the curtain I hung over the closet. I knew this green had to go for a closer match to the curtain. 

So then I decided to go with blue. I aimed for the same shade as the curtain.  Fortunately, the blue was free during a free Ace paint day. I also got the yellow I painted the closet for free during another Ace paint day. 

 Isn't it just radioactive? It was way too much and my teeth even hurt looking at it. It was way too much. 

 So then I got inspired by these bins:

Except I didn't know if I wanted to go dark grey or something fun. So I used the paint from my guest room and did this:

 Except that looked crazy too. Ugh. Part of my obsession with painting down here is the opportunity to have the excuse to watch seasons of TV shows. The first green was "Revenge." The blue was "Mad Men." These stripes were "Orange is the New Black." All amazing shows by the way! The green was warmer than it looks above. This is probably the closest:

 So, out with the stripes! This was after the first coat of primer and starting "Boardwalk Empire"

 They didn't die easily. This is after the second coat of primer. 

 Then I used the white paint from my bedroom and guest room to cover up all walls but the green one. I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep the green or go a different color. I just needed the stripes gone!

By the end of season 1 of Boardwalk Empire I had it finished! The entire project was $14. The shelves are new from Ikea's Lack line. The grey was left from painting the kitchen and bathroom cabinets. I'd also used it on the square project. Ohhhh it's just so deep and pretty. I was able to keep the yellow trash can and soap dispenser and the yellow closet. Pretend it's much more organized than it is right now. It will be soon! 

All we need to do is lay the tile... Still!

Being Engaged Sucks

How rude of me huh?! I spend a decade complaining about how I want to get married and now I am about to. And I complain! But after googling "is it normal to fight all the time after getting engaged" and seeing the words pop up before I finished typing I figured I wasn't alone. 

First off:

I adore this man. I am 1000% making the right decision. 

But the seriousness of this whole thing just came crashing down as soon as the ring was on. I'm going to be washing his crusty socks and folding his jeans for the rest of my life. He will eat all of the good food I was excited for before I get to. He will use fabric softener instead of detergent when he hears me complaining about the laundry and decides to help. He will not do things my way. 

I'm at the brink of this whole thing coming a little too late. I've lived on my own for the last 8 years. Completely alone. I've always refused to get a roommate in an apartment or for my house. Me, the dog, and the cat were a complete little family. I could stash a chocolate bar in my pantry for 3 months and pull it out in a moment of desperation and know it would be there. I could put the toilet paper on with it folding over the top and know that nobody would do it backwards. I could sleep with it super warm so that my nose didn't get cold. I could sing badly and nobody would hear. 

It's all about to change. A year from now it might have been too late for me and I thank God for his timing. 

Not only that, but I am signing on the dotted line that this one and only man is the only man that will ever ever be for me. I'm great with that. But then he does something and I think, "ok wait. That for the rest of my life?!" And I wonder if I'll be enough. What do I do that makes him think "Ok wait, she'll be that OCD for the rest of her life?!" We're making some serious vows! And I hope I can be a great wife. A great mother. I just hope I can be enough. And he is putting pressure on himself. Will he provide enough? He's about to inherit a woman, a dog, a cat, a house, another car, and a whole life full of responsibility. 

On top of that the wedding is this year. I have 1 more week off before it. I need to plan. Planning has brought out the great and the terrible in people. I hate making phone calls, yet lately it seems like all I do! It'll be amazing, but it's stressful. If it'll all work, if I'll forget something major, if it'll be wayyyy too expensive, will I fit into my dress, etc. Those are all things that are looming. 

Then there is family. We have to merge two families. All of the great things and all of the junk have to merge. My mom always told me to take a long hard look at a man's family before you agree to marry him. 

Put all of this commitment, all of the little things that you're realizing will be a part of your life forever, all of the set-in-my-ways stuff I have to let go of, family, and all of the planning that has to happen together and there will be fights. I found this site (I don't know the owner. It just was great reading)! It made me feel like I wasn't alone. I also talked to my mom. She said every thing I'd been feeling and gave me advice. This weekend we went on a date where I banned myself from talking about the wedding. It was heaven! 

So I have no resolution. I am incredibly blessed to be typing this with an engagement ring on my finger, his crusty socks in my hamper, and wedding pamphlets everywhere. This will pass and I'll look back later and wonder what the big deal was. I just needed to put it in print so I could look back later :)

Nesting

I got the coolest thing ever a few weeks ago. The Nest thermostat. I'm blogging about a thermostat. That's how you know it's awesome! 

The first thing I love about it:

-It's pretty. 

Second thing I love about it:

-It's crazy easy to use. 

The third thing I love about it:

-It's connected to the Wifi in my house. So it updates itself.

The fourth thing I love about it:

-There's an app for it. As in- I can lay in bed and adjust it. Not only can I do that, but I can set it if I leave and forget to turn it down, or leave work on a cold night and want the place warmed up before I'm home! I can also view my energy usage and set a scheduled for it. Oh, and it's a free app. Who doesn't love those?

The fifth thing I love:

-It learns. It knows when I'm home and when I leave. It remembers if I crank it up every night at 7 and it remembers when I go to work on Tuesdays. Even if I set a schedule it will still keep learning. 

The sixth thing:

-My dad said it was super easy to install. Since I wasn't going to do it, anything I can do to make it easier for him to install is a great thing! 

The seventh thing:

-It matches all of the black and white I have going on here (I'll be painting the plate behind it to match the stripe. I'm taking this puppy with me whenever I move and putting the old thermostat back, so it's not worth totally fixing up the wall from the old thermostat).

The eighth thing:

-It came with the cutest screwdriver in the world.

People, I have a serious crush on a thermostat! I won't bore you with btu comparisons and energy usage. I'll sum it up with the fact that my furnace has been on 50% less than it was before! There are tons of reviews of this bad boy online. I just wanted to weigh in and tell you I'm in love! While it was expensive right outta the gate, it's saving me money and looking pretty while it does it!

Random Things in EJ's Life

The barn wood table is still holding up amazingly well and my parents are adorable. Oh and this recipe was a major hit and crazy easy when I made it for my little dinner party of 4.

My dog hates sitting like a person, but she is SO cute. I'm also taking a little break from curly hair. Oh how I wish my hair was naturally this blonde...

I finally got my new light fixture from here. It took me FOREVER to find one I liked. Now I just need to beg my dad to put it up for me! It's the same grey as the kitchen and upstairs bathroom walls!

I'm digging these quotes:

I live in the burbs and have a fairly easy commute in to the city. Despite this, I see a fatality a month. Tonight was a crazy scary car fire with nobody on the scene yet. Too many people die young. I don't want to take this life for granted. 

I really don't want to waste this life of mine.

On a much less serious note... I will never get enough of this video. It makes me laugh so much!

I'm in the market for one of these bad boys. I tried to test drive one yesterday but couldn't get anyone in the dealership to look my way. I long for a Pretty Woman moment! I can else give you 112 reasons why you shouldn't buy a Kia Forte if you're in the market for one (seriously such first world problems!)

My latest Stitch Fix is coming tomorrow!! I made the mistake of liking them on Facebook and Instagram and now I keep seeing fun new things on their site and wishing for them!

That's about it. Happy Monday to all!

Big Living Room Changes

Wow I'm the worst blogger ever these days. I have no excuse! But, I had to pop in to show something exciting. I know I'd mentioned buying a barrel. I've made other changes around the living room. 

Let me remind you how far I've come...

I now have 0 of this in my living room! (except for the dog and cat that is!)

I'd mentioned a year and a half ago my goals for the living room in this post. 

Here it is now:

What a change! It's awfully grey/tan though. I've just ordered this rug which should spice things up. I also plan on getting some bold fabric for pillows, building a console table for behind the couch, and changing up the art work, as well as adding accessories to the barrel. 

Here is the journey to changing up the living room:

This is the couch all prepped to move to the basement

Here is the new couch getting strapped in for the ride home

Here is the couch getting wedged on the way to the basement

 Here is the poor old couch outside waiting for a new owner. Fortunately that ended up being my baby brother! 

 Here is box 1 of 4 of the couch

 In the midst of chaos

 Done at last!!! I had googled Ikea Kivik reviews and found the video of how to assemble it on youtube. Considering there were no assembly directions included, that was a God-send! 

 I got rid of the table I had against the stripes to make this pass-through a little larger

 So far it's wildly popular 

 I'm SO glad I spent more for the upgraded tweed-like fabric. It is SO comfortable! I'm in LOVE with this couch!

 When I'd gotten this chair it seemed low. The low-lying sectional makes this seem proportionate. I also got an ammunition barrel on ebay as an end table. 

Here is a fast forwarded version of my boyfriend and I building the amazing new couch! It's also poorly aimed. Whoops! Still... enjoy!