Mini Hallway Makeover...complete!

Remember the project I started weeks ago here? Well, I am finally finished!! We had a full weekend scheduled but our plans changed at the last minute and I totally took advantage of it!

My project started when I painted the little wall in the mini hallway. I added the mirror that I painted that I got on clearance at Hobby Lobby:

Then, I found this cabinet with drawers on clearance at Home Goods. Not the color I wanted but I figured I could paint it.

And here it is now:

Espresso Brown paint and nickle drawer pulls from Home Depot:

Now, my little area is complete!!

I love it!

Movie Night

We had a great night last night; it was movie night! My Sweetheart and I don't like going to theaters to watch movies because of the noise and the chatter, etc. Instead, we wait for the movie to be released on DVD then we watch it on OnDemand. It's great because we can pause and rewind at will.


Last night we watched Clash of the Titans (his pick). It was okay. I expected Perseus to have long hair and look like a Greek God......


We enjoyed spending the evening together. Grievous enjoys movie night too. He gets to snuggle under the covers with us:

We think it's hilarious how he lays on his back and leans against Miguel. He loves to be under the covers and will fall asleep that way. Crazy pooch!!

I am working on my hallway cabinet project that I started 4 weeks ago. I am almost finished. I am super excited!!!

Sedona, Arizona

My Sweetheart's Aunt Della was in Phoenix this weekend. She was visiting from Laredo, Texas. We took her to an Arizona Diamondback's baseball game on Saturday. It was her first visit to a baseball stadium! We had tickets to T.G.I.Friday's Front Row. We had dinner while we watched the game. Good times!


Since this was her her first trip to Arizona, we also decided to take her to Sedona. It was a nice escape from the 108 degree weather. In Sedona, it was a cool 86 degrees! It is so beautiful in Sedona. I have lived in Southern Arizona all my life and am used to desert landscape and extremely hot weather. Every time I visit Sedona, I'm in awe of the mild summer weather and the gorgeous scenery: the trees, the red sandstone formations, the creeks. It's absolutely breath taking.

The trip to Sedona from Phoenix is about 3 hours. As we approach Sedona, we start to see this:

Pine trees!

And these red/orange formations, found only in Sedona.

There are many hiking and biking trails. We went to the spot that My Sweetheart and I always visit. It's a 6 mile trail that has many stopping spots to explore and offers great photo opportunities. The first is this abandoned restaurant. A park ranger told us there was a man that wanted to open a restaurant at the base of this mountain but it burned down during construction. All that is left is:

The fire place...maybe to cook dinner?

Not sure what this was...perhaps the dining area?

This we were told was the wine cellar. A cave in the mountain.



The kitchen?



Then the walking trail starts. The smell of the trees is amazing.

Aunt Della, taking in the beautiful scenery:


We understand that when the water runs off this cliff, it creates an amazing waterfall.




There wasn't a lot of water in the creeks, but nonetheless, there was water!
I couldn't help but dip my toes in the water...it was cold!


My Sweetheart pulling fruit from the trees at Aunt Della's request:




The clouds coming in:



There's this cute bridge that took us over one of the creeks.


More storm clouds above the gorgeous trees:

I HEART the trees!!

One our way out, we stopped at a store that had the cutest stuff! It doesn't take much convincing to get My Sweetheart to pose:

Aunt Della and My Sweetheart

I loved these pumpkin pots. They have a lid so you can place a candle inside it. I had to have one! My Sweetheart, got one for me!

One our way out:

It started raining on our way home. It was nice to see rain since we seldom see it in Phoenix although I can do without driving on I-17 during a storm. Too many big trucks and crazy drivers! My Sweetheart did a great job of getting us home safe and sound.

Aunt Della had a great time!

Weekend Wrap Up

What a great weekend we had! It was so hot and humid this weekend. We should have stayed indoors but what's the fun in that? We battled 105 degree weather with 25% humidity this weekend. It was supposed to get to 115 this weekend. I don't know if it ever did. All I know is that it was hot and sticky!


On Saturday we ran some errands. We went to the mall to pick up a baseball cap that we had ordered for my Sweetheart. We were at the mall a couple of weeks ago and saw a '2010 draft' Cowboys baseball cap at Just Sports. They didn't have his size at the time so we ordered one for him and they had called me on Friday to tell me it had come in. My Sweetheart was so excited about it! We also ran to Costco to grab a few stock up items ~~ and Grievie got a new bed, he's so spoiled!


We went to Home Depot because I had a project waiting for me at home and I needed some supplies. I bought some brown paint in Espresso and some nickle drawer pulls for my project. Remember my 'mini hall way makeover' from a free weeks ago here?

I found this cabinet on clearance at Home Goods. It's perfect for the little hallway. But it's turquoise. I mean bright turquoise.


So that's where the brown paint and new knobs come in. I am painting it brown to match the mirror that I painted. I quickly got started on my project when we got home. But since it was still 105 degrees out my Sweetheart told me to wait until the evening when it wasn't so hot. But I was eager so I started to paint inside the house, with the windows cracked and the fan on.






Well that's wasn't a good idea. I primered the drawers and the cabinet then started with the painting. After about an hour, I felt nauseated and I had a killer headache to which my Sweetheart said, "I told you not to paint inside". Aughhh! So I had to stop painting. Seriously, I thought since I was using interior paint that my painting the cabinet would be the same as painting a wall. I mean, a couple of weeks ago I painted the hallway and I didn't get sick. But I went ahead and moved everything into the garage so I could finish it the next morning. Instead, it sits in the garage and awaits my return:

Hopfully, I can finish it this week. My Sweetheart's aunt Della will be visiting from Texas this weekend so I really want to have it done by Friday!

Oh, by the way, we had brunch at Ruby Tuesday's on Sunday. Have you tried the Sangria there. I had the white Sangria. It was so good!! I could go for another right now! :)

Have a great week!!

Me and My Sweetheart

I had planned on relaxing in front of the tv this evening. I was going to watch "P.S. I love you". My girlfriend let me borrow it and I was looking forward to my chick flick evening. Before I do that, I thought to myself, I'll just straighten out my desk. Well that small task turned into a big task. I went through the mail and then decided to tackle my inbox. It was filled with documents that needed to be filed. So I started sorting and making files and before I knew it was too late to start my movie -- I have to work tomorrow morning so I won't be up too late tonight.

Well it took all night but my desk is clean again. Just the way I like it!

As I was organizing, I ran across this photo. This is a photo and me and my Sweetheart in the early days. It was April 2006.

My Sweetheart is my rock and the love of my life.

I am truly blessed !

Kitchen Curtain Project

I had been planning on making new curtains for my kitchen for weeks now. Since before May 21st when I posted about my new spring/summer colors in my living room. Well, this weekend, I finally did it! We asked our nephew's over on Saturday so we could spend time with them. While they (my Sweetheart and the two boys) played Wii, I got busy on my curtains. That is between turns on the 4 player games we were playing. I kept telling them I wanted to work on my curtains but they kept including me in their game! :)

As I started my project, I couldn't decide if I wanted a valance across the windows like I had before. I'm too lazy to find a picture of the curtains I had before. They were red and were tab top. My nephews and my Sweetheart liked the idea of having two panels versus the valance. I read in BHG that if you use the panels for color and not so much for functionality, then it's okay to use a narrow panel. I liked the idea of panels so I ran with it.

My Sweetheart liked them too. And the boys did too. I did have to keep them window sill length so they don't get dirty since one window sits above the sink. The prototype left me with the feeling that they should be longer. But in the end I decided that wouldn't be a good idea.

I'll admit they are a bit simple, but I like simple and neat. I am a big fan of solid colors vs print. My newphew kept asking why I didn't "just go to the store and buy them so I could play with them". Trust me, that was plan A. But I was adamant about the solid yellow and I couldn't find solid yellow in any store or online.

I do like the way it looks. This morning when I walked in the kitchen and the sun was shining in, I was completely satisfied with the result! Here's a look at the one over the sink:

And again......

And the flowers....My Sweetheart bought them for me "just because". He ran to the grocery store for me last night and came back with these. "Because they match the curtains you made" he says. What a Sweetheart, huh?

Oh and because I totally forgot about my 4th of July post and all the cute decorations I had out (that I have since put away)...I thought I would post the only picture I got of my holiday decor!

Happy belated Independence Day! Thank God for the men and women that fight for our freedom. God bless them!!