spicing up life

my handy husband made a spice rack for me for christmas last year. he's a pro at converting pallet boards and recycled wood into unique furniture pieces (like this coffee table and record stand). he even incorporated a chalk board into this piece (and if you haven't heard about my love for chalk board, look here and here and here and here). it's fantastic! unfortunately, mccormick plastic spice jars are just not cute enough to display, so i headed over to this container supply site for some cute, matchy spice jars (for a really reasonable price) and got some labels from the container store. with two moves in the span of seven months, we hadn't had a chance to put everything together until recently. i love how it turned out. have a look...

a step up

one day, we went looking for supplies to make a bookcase...and we found this great, old ladder in the $5 pile at a local antique shop. one week later, still no bookcase, but we have a sweet record stand now!

the power of a paintbrush, round two

here's round two of remedying screaming walls! (if you missed round one, see it here.)

[before]

[i have to admit, that's a pretty good red sox logo]

[KIDDING. I AM NOT A YANKEES FAN.]

[mid-primer]

[trying to redeem myself]

[done!]

the power of a paintbrush

as part of our last living situation, we agreed to do some painting (aka cover up screaming walls). check out the progress:

[PUMPED]

[before: neon green and charcoal grey]

[another angle: neon green and charcoal grey]

[mid-primer]

[another angle: mid-primer]

[after: did you feel your blood pressure go down?]

[after: the finished (calmer) product]

all grown up

two weeks ago, my baby sister went to senior prom and graduated from high school. the same girl who showered with the bathroom door open until she was 12 because she hated being alone is growing up to become a beautiful, smart, capable young woman (who still hates being alone, but that's another post for another time). the confusing part about all this is that i still think she's seven. and probably always will, even when she graduates from college, gets a big girl job, gets married and has kids (who eventually turn seven). she'll always be my baby sister, but i'm proud of her and look forward to watching her grow even more over the next four years of college.

love you, la! 

tough guys

 TOUGH MUDDER 2013 :: PHILADELPHIA, PA

uncorked

do you know how many wine bottles it took to get all these corks?!? we love wine, but not THAT much, so thanks to the friends and family who have consistently donated to my stash. the K is finally complete - although i'm still taking donations for future cork projects :)