Happy Birthday Daddy!

Wishing my Dad a great Birthday!

I made him a strawberry shortcake and it was good :)

I have the easiest recipe, it came from a box of Betty Crocker cake mix.

I had freshly picked strawberries from a local strawberry farm

The batter was really yummy with the strawberry yogurt mixed in, it turns the white cake a little blush.

The layers...I like to slice just a little off the top of each layer so the strawberry juice will soak in good.

Yummy! Yummy!

Yummy!

I also make my own whipped cream, no icing on this cake.

Make yourself one NOW and pick some fresh berries!

Mio Rug Disastero

Meet the culprit

I had to have some of these to flavor my water, they are tasty...a change from Crystal Light. They were sitting on my countertop....they were stolen!

Meet the criminal

She is completely obsessed with food. She was downstairs alone, sleeping, I thought. Then I heard the familiar sound of her chewing on something. I didn't even yell this time, just went down calmly to see what she had. Then all hell broke loose! It looked like a murder scene on my brand new Pottery Barn RUG!! She had picked the strawberry watermelon flavor, taken it over to the living room to enjoy. It looked like the bottle exploded.

 I did explode! She RAN not walked to her kennel and stayed for a looooong time.

I acted quick, ran for towels, soaked up what was there, then ran for my handy dandy carpet cleaners

This is the first sisal rug I have ever owned and I knew nothing about cleaning natural fiber rugs. I was in a panic, I was angry, and I was crying so much I could hardly see the stains through my tears. I blotted with cleaner,  I tried Folex first, this stuff works every time, NOT this time. Then I went for the OxyClean, it didn't work either.

Here is what is left

I worked hard, over an hour trying to get the stains out. Proof...check out all these red soaked towels...

I read that Host Carpet Cleaning may work, this is a dry carpet cleaning system. I went to a vacuum and carpet cleaning store today and they recommended a stain treatment specially formulated for red stains such as red wine. Yeah, this didn't work either!

So this corner of the rug

will have a new home under the green chair here

I was really mad and really upset about the whole thing and Abbie knew it. She stayed away for a long time, I was so upset and mad at her because she never learns to stay off the countertop. And she ruined my rug. But every time I started to feel the anger build up I saw this image her...

and I realized this must mean I really love her.


I learned that the OxyClean probably discolored the fibers when I tried to clean, you can see in the pictures. It didn't bleach it, but turned it more of a gold. I learned there is not much you can do to remove liquid stains from a natural fiber rug. I may try the dry cleaner later, but I am not very hopeful...no more stain is releasing from the fibers at this point. So the whole idea of buying a fiber rug because it will hide stains Abbie drags in was pretty pointless. :(

If anyone knows something that may work, I'd love to know.

Happy Girl!

Guess what came in the mail today!!!

and two mini samples for my patience (the wax was on backorder)

what to paint, what to paint? Too bad I have a busy weekend planned....I will squeeze a little painting in, I'll have to!

Moving ?!?

I promised to fill you in on the possiblilty of us moving, so here goes. Stay with me, it is a looooong story. When I started this blog a few months ago it was not a possibility and I had hoped to really work hard on projects and home decorating to blog about. But as the blog name goes, home & garden + LIFE, things change.

Four years ago we decided to purchase a piece of land to subdivide and develop into a neighborhood. Will is a civil engineer and he wanted to try developing and we both felt it would be a good investment for our future and hopefully be something that we enjoyed enough to turn around and do another after the first one was sold.

About 3-6 months after we purchased the economy really started to tank, and the home building industry was hit hard. We tried to flip the land at first and just re-sale for a little profit, after a few more months passed we went ahead with plans to have the land divided, roads built, and electrical lines put in. A neighborhood was born, Glen Iris, and we were developers!

At this point we were ready to sell off individual lots to builders...so the subdivision was listed and since then we have waited and waited and waited...a few bites, but no takers. Builders are interested but cannot get loans from the banks to build. So we waited longer and hoped things would get better. We are still waiting....

Now we've decided to bite the bullet again and build a house on the land to get the neighborhood started. Our hopes are that if we build it they will come(it worked in the movies), that is builders or homeowners looking to build new.

Here is our lot....

We hope to start building in a few weeks. As soon as ground is broken our current house will go on the market. Here's the maybe part...we will also try to sell the new home. If the new home sells we stay put, if our current house sells first we move. We really are not sure what will happen. There are restrictions on listing a new construction house while it is under construction so we have a better chance of selling our current home, but there are also several homes for sell in our neighborhood giving us more competition. I just pray something sells and praying that however it works out, it is the right plan for us.

We are still very excited to see what this neighborhood becomes. We still believe it is a good investment and the location is great.

We have chosen Grey Heron Construction to build our home and hope that they will continue to build more in the neighborhood along with other interested builders. Grey Heron builds fantastic low country style homes and we are happy to have them on board! The homes in this neighborhood will be very similar in style to the homes they currently build but they will be able to offer more affordable homes to prospective buyers.   

We will put our current house on the market in a few weeks. Soon there will be lots of new home ideas!

Coastal Style

I have spent most of this week in Myrtle Beach & Charleston, SC for work. I know that sounds so terrible :)

I had the opportunity to stop in at two interior design shoppes in the Myrtle Beach area. Posh Living & HAI Homes...as soon as I stepped in at both of these places my heart swelled with happiness! The colors, the chunky furniture, the light weight fabrics, the glass, and seashells...Oh My!! These two shoppes are not just decorative accessory stores, these are full service interior design firms and I realized by visiting that my style is 100% coastal.

For years I have gone back and forth between cottage and traditional decorating styles. Traditional because it is safe and clean, like Pottery Barn. I also think I choose traditional because we don't live at the beach and it doesn't seem to fit. I don't like trendy beach stuff like flip flops, and super bright colors I like the neutrals of shells and sand, the blue greens of the ocean, the dark woods of the tropics, the bright pops of color in the flowers.

So I've decided to stop being so safe with decorating and start collecting treasures that reflect my love of the sea...

A few noteworthy pictures from my trip...

This was a dresser at HAI Home, love the weathered look and the whimsy of buttons nailed in to make the design.

I will leave you with this pretty porch in Charleston.  Love the old light and the pretty colors.

House Tour

Welcome to our home! We purchased our house over 5 years ago as a newly constructed home in a rural neighborhood. We picked a few upgrades before the home was finished, like hardwoods in the living room and pendant lights in the kitchen and while living here we have done very minor things like tile flooring and painting the cabinets in the kitchen.

Welcome

Entry/Foyer

Dining Room

Kitchen

We painted cabinets, put up a wainscoting backsplash, had tile flooring installed, and added pendant lighting. See cabinet transformation post here.

Breakfast Nook

Living Room

Master Bedroom

Guest Bedroom

Office

I thought about not sharing this room because it is a constant design dilemma in my eyes.  I hate all the cords, the ugly office like leather chair, and the TV in the room (although I love watching it).  I decided to go ahead and include it because there are some things I love.  I LOVE the paint color, the photo makes it look a little brighter than it really is, but it is my favorite color in the whole house.  Took me two tries but I got it right the second time.  I also love my bulletin board that we made (fabric on foam on plywood)....it is my little inspiration board.