Chopped

It's been so long.  It was time.  A refreshing start was what I needed.

So what did I do??

Chopped my hair off!

*gasp*

For awhile I'd been going back and forth about chopping it.  I went in a couple of months ago for a haircut and was going to do it, but sissied out since I went to a new lady.  After getting the ends just barely trimmed, I decided it was time.  I found a handful of pictures online that I liked and asked for the chop.

I was so, so, SO happy that I was able to donate my hair somewhere.  Given, since I'd just trimmed it, I didn't have the 10 required inches to donate to Locks of Love.  But honestly, since I've donated to them in the past, I decided it was nice to actually donate to another charity.  So I decided to donate my hair to Pantene, since they only have an 8 inch minimum.

I'm so glad I'm able to donate and do something for someone else.  Life is all about what you can do for others.  I love knowing that my hair is going towards someone's wig and can help to put a little pep in their step.  Something that is so easy and simple to me, can potentially mean the world to someone else.  So often, we don't really consider the other side of the coin.

Here's the before/after...... whatcha think? :)

Cheap, Healthy, Veggie Loaded Breakfast for Dinner

One night last week my hubby and I were really wanting something quick and easy for dinner, so we decided to have breakfast for dinner.  Josh sautéed some veggies and lunch meat, then tossed in some egg whites for me.  I haven't had something new that's been so hot and yummmmm in a long time.  And the best thing, we used leftover veggies we had in the house, so we really were just using up what we already had.  Money saved and kept food from going bad and being wasted, and a delicious, fast dinner.  Win, win, win!!

Here's what we used:

-1 cup broccoli

-1/2 cup cauliflower

-1 cup mushroom

-3 slices turkey or ham

-4 egg whites scrambled

Dining Room - 95% Done

I know, I'm horrible. The house has taken ALL of my free time.

However, this also means I have a done, but not decorated dining room.  

Just to recap, below is everything we did in the dining room....

-Pulled up the carpet and laid hardwoods throughout the first floor

-Painted the top half with grey and white stripes

-Put up waynescotting/framing on the bottom half below the chair rail

-Swapped out the fan in the dining room with the chandelier in the eat in kitchen, since the fan/light didn't fit our vision for the room and was very dim

-Stripped and re-stained the table we inherited from my grandpa (my dad did 95% of this as a gift to us. how awesome  is he?!?!)

My dad staining the legs after sanding down and removing all the existing paint.  The top is bare wood at this point.

So here we go.... 

The finished room (minus decorations)....

****DRUMROLL****

Isn't it pretty?!?  Love, love, love it!  

I (we) couldn't be happier with how it turned out.  I love the classic and contemporary mix in the room.  The clean modern lines of the walls and framing, and the classic style and color of the table.  Originally I wanted to do a dark, dark, dark table, but was worried that it would match the floors too much since they're so dark.  We decided on a medium walnut color.  I don't remember the exact name of the stain though.  Also, with the dark and dingy fan out of there and the light, bright and modern brushed nickel chandelier in there, it looks tremendously better.  I'm so glad I thought about switching those.  Plus, who wants a fan on while eating?  It will just make your food cold.

So as far as decorating, I plan on sticking to the original plan......



Ideally, I want to hang a cluster of pictures on the far wall.  I'm thinking probably 9.  I love the idea of sticking with black and white photos in large white frames, just like my design board.  I also still plan on getting a couple of large comfy chairs for the head of the table.

At some point we'd also like to purchase or redo a buffet or have some type of storage in there.  The goal with the buffet would be to store extra serving dishes and my grandmother's china that I inherited.  Plus with having the buffet, the top can serve as additional space for large platters or drinks during big parties or get togethers.

The only big change we made from the original design board above is the rug.  Though technically we did still buy a a jute rug, we just bought it for the living room, and got the grey damask rug for the dining room.  All in all, we're super happy with the change and how it all has turned out.