what i did today

This weekend I spent a lot of time shopping.  Finally with a plan in place I was hoping to go out, rack up on some great finds just as Sally said and make rather large checkmarks next to my to-do list.  No such luck.  I didn’t buy a thing.

And then today I priced out a few things like the mirrored doors and mirrors for the bathrooms and I’ve determined that mirror must have a little gold in it because the quotes I got were ridiculously high.

It’s not that we don’t have the money, it’s just is it ever wise to spend that much money on a purely aesthetic upgrade?  Maybe I’m too cheap but I just can’t do it.  Not to mention the fact that I may not have a job this time next year.  If anything, I need to be saving even more.

I know there are a few quick hits we’ll do right now.

• I’ve had the kitchen counter-top on the list for years now and now that I have a color pinned down and it’s a relatively cheap project, I’m going for it.
• The bathrooms really do need new tile to replace the stained linoleum.   Scott tiled our washer/dryer room for about $50 and it looks fantastic.
• I’d like to say I’m going to paint the bathroom since that’s cheap too but do I still want it all red without the mirrors?
• I want to do the lighting and I would when one of them is $100 a piece but when you add 6 or 7 of those up, it’s a little overwhelming.

I don’t know, I guess it all sounded grand on Friday and now, well, it still sounds grand.  More like a few grand.

Wow, so this morning was very productive..and FUN!  I basically had two professionals go through my entire house and tell me what I needed to change.  Sally is really her name and you can read more about her here.  She’s the Director of Creative Services at Hunter Douglas.  And my mom owns a Hunter Douglas gallery and has been making draperies for most of my life.

Sally took the lead while my mom gave input where necessary when she knew my tastes differed from what Sally proposed or just as a confirmation of a good idea. I ended up carrying a notebook around and had a full page of ideas by the end of the 2 hours.

I will try to share with you what she told me to do.  And I apologize mostly to Sally but also to you readers for the pictures you are getting ready to see.  Basically I had to go old school and paint the changes on pictures of the house I took today.  Truth be told, it was fun but it looks like Emma could have done it.  Scratch that…Lexi.

The biggest changes will be in the kitchen and master bath and just a few tweaks in the sunroom, hallway, kids’ room and hall bath.

Before kitchen:

OK, this is what’s happening:

• Replace the countertops with this Burnished Glaze formica.  Mainly for budget purposes we’re not doing granite.  We don’t plan to be here more than 5 years and it may out-do this neighborhood if we sink too much money into it.
• Change the sink to a beige porcelain.
• Put a biege/gold glass tile back-splash.  I love glass tile and think this will be cool.  She wants to do the back-splash in a lighter color since the floor, cabinets and counter top will now all be dark.
• I was going to put up recessed lighting but she suggested putting a Tiffany chandelier up to replace the current black and brass ceiling fan (puke) and then two pendant lights above the sink.  This would serve double-duty as a window covering since we have a blind already and don’t really have a privacy issue.
• Take down all the stuff from above the cabinets and replace it with rope lighting.
• Put down a 4×6 colorful rug in the center of the open area.
• Put a lamp on my yellow cabinet.  Nickel base with a neutral shade.

Before living room:

• Already out of this picture is a lamp she had us move from beside the glider to the recliner.  Our lighting was very unbalanced in the room.
• Add the lighting beside the TV.  She even sat and looked online to help us pick these out.  These are better because the light is shining out and not just up and down like some wall lighting.
• Since the main four pieces of furniture we have in the living room don’t really go together, she suggested replacing the two chairs (sort of left-overs) with two brightly colored/fun/modern chairs that matched on either side of the TV.

My office.  Just a few things to top it off.

• Put valences above the windows (I know it’s hard to see) with the same fabric that is on the doors.
• Replace the center recessed lighting with a fun chandelier.

Before Bedroom:

• My main concern was that plain wall to the side.  She suggested another large piece of art.  It looks small in the pic, but that is a King size bed.  My mom suggested I move the neutral tree picture to the side wall and then get another picture that is neutral and maybe a hint of red in it for above the bed.
• Get Scott to actually build the platform bed.  But that we knew.

Now for the master bathroom (excuse our bright orange towels!):

For the first time maybe ever, someone scared me with a wall color. I really wish I had on film my reaction to her suggestion to paint the bathroom…..RED.  Red is a very tricky wall color.  It can go orange.  It can look messy around the trim.  It can be loud.  It makes a statement.  BUT.  What I asked for in that bathroom was something bold.  I wanted it to be spa-like.  I wanted it fancy.

• Paint the walls red.
• In the niche above the sink, do counter-to-ceiling mirrors.
• Put in a sconce on each side wall at eye level.
• Put new lighting above the sink higher than the other two.
• Put a iron/clear glass chandelier above the toilet area.  (that was my idea, yay amy)
• Tile the floor in a neutral porcelain tile (mainly for resale)
• She suggested to keep our current counter and base.

OK, if this makes any sense:

So those were helpful RIGHT?? LOL

A few other random things:

• In the kids’ room, we should buy the shadow boxes from Pottery Barn and put the kids’ artwork.
• In the hall, I have 3 large collage frames.  She suggested using molding to build a very large frame around them and use wall lettering to put “Bennett” above them.  She said it wouldn’t look like “3 dots on a wall”.
• In the main bathroom, again she suggested counter to ceiling mirror.  She also suggested a neutral tile flooring again.  Although for the kids, she suggested doing the floor AND ALL THE WALLS with tile.  Or at least up to a chair molding height.  It’s an easy clean.
• She also rearranged things on my foyer table.  She says when doing tablescapes, to remember items should be grouped in 3’s.

So that’s it.  There are a few quick fixes here but mainly, Scott now has a very long to-do list and Mom and I have A LOT of shopping to do.

I am quite excited about tomorrow morning.  A few months ago my mom and her business hosted a benefit.  She had a designer from Hunter Douglas speak about 10 Designing Rules (something or other).  As part of the night, you could make a special donation to the cause and you’d also earn 2 hours of Sally’s time when she came back to town.  Guess who signed right up for THAT? Moi!  And I’m super-excited.

In her little pitch she said she’ll come in, go through the house and give advice.  She’ll pick paint colors, fabrics, rearrange furniture, whatever is needed (or at least that’s how I HEARD it). Our house isn’t that big so I don’t see that we’ll be rearranging furniture and I’m pretty happy with my wall colors but a few things I’d really like help with are as follows:

• Kitchen fabric color and curtain style.
• Kitchen counter color
• Living room rug…do I need one?  If so, how big, where and what color?
• General accessorizing.  I have all these cool little vases, statues and candle holders but I never put them in the right place.    Also, in her talk she suggested having lamps in your kitchen and bathroom but what kind do I need?  Color? Height? Style?  These are the things I’m clueless about.
• Whatever problem areas she sees and would like to comment on.  Do you ever go into someone’s house and think that just doesn’t work?  Usually it’s rude to say something but now I’ve paid to have her come in and say these things.  Lord help.

So yeah, I’m hoping to have some great design tips and pictures to share tomorrow.

What problem areas do you have in your house that you would have Sally help with?

So most of July 4th was spent cleaning surprisingly.  The kids spent the night at IL’s Friday and we had no plans until Saturday evening so we used the time to straighten up and clean out.

Sometime that afternoon the pool Sirens finally called loud enough and I settled in with my book just as the girls came home.  We stayed in the pool for the afternoon.  Mom, Dad and Heather joined us.  Mom had brought crab legs so we had those as well as hamburgers.  We finished out the night together watching Confessions of a Shopaholic.

The girls and I went to see some fireworks courtesy of our local minor league baseball team.  Both girls barely made it through the fireworks they were so late but it was a nice evening to be out.

I have other stuff to blog about this weekend but I want to get this one out.  A few months ago a few friends tried to get a group of 15 together to go see Phantom of the Opera but we never could seem to get it together.  Finally last week I decided to get tickets for me and Scott for today’s 2:00 show.  I was really excited.  In fact, I remember twittering buying the tickets was the best thing that had happened that day.

Cut to today.  Drama at church.  Lunch after church.  Long conversation about drama at church after lunch after church.  It’s 3:30.  I lie down to take a nap hoping to forget most of what happened that morning and within a minute, pop straight up and yell, “SCOTT, WE’RE SUPPOSED TO BE AT PHANTOM OF THE OPERA!”  Scott was in the middle of sleeping, pops just his head up and looks at me like he’s trying to determine if someone is getting ready to attack.

After a few minutes of complaining from me over my inability to remember anything and the amount of money I paid for the tickets, I call the ticket office and the lady says there is probably nothing that can be done.  She can’t do anything over the phone.  We could try to go there in person and see if there is anything they can do but she doubts it.  The last show in Charlotte was tonight at 7.

The show is 2.5 hours long and I figure at the very, very least, I could catch the last 30 minutes of the show.  We make the 20 minute trip to downtown Charlotte, make a mess of trying to park only to have Scott drop me off at the front to run in.

I find the place desolate save one man eating his packed lunch at the ticket booth.  He listens to my story but says he can do nothing.  A manager will be there at 5 who can help me.  At this point it’s about 4:15.  It would be pointless to go home and come back.  I get Scott to pick me up and we go park and then wait for 5 at the theater.

Workers begin taking their places and the man finally waves me over just after 5.  The manager doesn’t even flinch at my story, offers me Limited View box seats and I gladly accept.  I victoriously walk out with a handwritten ticket for two, even waving it in the air at a few people that we had chatted with during our wait.  We make plans for the kids who were already spending the afternoon with family.  We decide to run home, get me out of my heels that are already giving me blisters, grab a quick dinner and then head back.

So we get there at 6:45 thinking it started at 7 only to find out doors open at 7 and the show starts at 7:30.  We finally get settled in our box seats only for the lady to say she has sat all 6 people in the box next to the one we should be in.  Ahh…it’s a comedy of errors.  Story of my life lately.  Anyway, we get settled in, Scott complains to all his buddies through text that he’s having to sit through this and I chat it up with the people next to us that have seen it several times and fill me in on a few details.

And then finally.  The show starts.

So.  The Show.

I have to preface this and say I’m pretty clueless about all things Broadway and Opera.  My experience is very limited.  I’ve only seen CATS and Grease so this opinion is coming very much from a novice.  And I know I’m really, really late on any kind of review but I still have to do it.

• The cast was extremely talented.  They blew me away with their voices.  I wanted so many times just to close my eyes and listen but I was scared I was going to miss something on stage.
• Very randomly, Raoul looks just like Peter Facinelli.
• I enjoyed the love triangle story.  I liked the idea of light vs. dark and physical vs. inner beauty.
• The plays within the play was a cool idea.  I liked how we got to see many different types of costumes and types of things in one setting.
• I had a hard time understanding what they were saying/singing.  I think I could’ve followed it better if I had read the script first.  Maybe I’ll be able to relax a bit more after seeing it a few times and I know what’s going on.
• My favorite song by far was “All I Ask of You”
• I hated the ending.  While watching it I found myself rooting for Raoul.  He was very charming and obviously loved her.  Meanwhile, Erik is busy hanging people and terrorizing everyone.  But something in me just assumed she would go with Erik.  They seemed to have that ingrained, meant to be kind of connection.  I really thought she would get over his appearance and give in to the night and love him.  Not knowing the story, I just felt that’s where they were leading us.  Raoul was the “right” guy but in her heart she really loved Erik.  But at the end, the only thing we got was her sailing off in a boat with the “right guy” and a mask in a chair.  Well, thanks.  What was all that for anyway then?  Talk about a tragedy.  The unloved masked man turns out to be unloved in the end anyway.

I don’t say all that about the ending to say I hated the whole thing. I enjoyed myself immensely and would recommend the show to others.  I want to watch the movie because from what I understand, there’s a different ending I’d probably enjoy more.

As for Scott, he got home and said I feel like I need to watch something else to clear my brain and then promptly turned on some show about people surviving getting stabbed in the neck.

So yeah, that was my experience with The Phantom of the Opera.

I think today fully qualifies as a Lazy Saturday.  I kinda sorta slept in while I listened to the girls play.  When I got up, I got breakfast for all of us, changed out some clothes in the laundry, packed a cooler of drinks and snacks and then headed to the pool!

I don’t think we’d ever been out that early.  The girls were confused when we still had shade on the pool from the neighbors on the East side of our house.

We all went in and out of the pool.  I read The Host on and off and the girls kept busy playing and swimming.  They were mostly content on their own.

Scott had gone to help someone he works with do something somewhere (if you can’t tell, I didn’t pay much attention) but on the way back, it was lunchtime and he grabbed us some take-out.  I think about 2:30 I had finally out done Lexi and she changed her own clothes and went inside.  Emma hung in until about 3 and then I think I was in about 3:30 or so.

It was grand!  I of course have a sunburn to show for the day.  I did manage to keep sunblock on my shoulders and face where it normally is the worst.

This evening we ate leftover casserole at Mom’s and then helped them pick lots of great stuff from their garden….tomatoes, corn, green peppers and zucchini.  Watermelon and cantaloupe are growing too.  We don’t live in farming country.  The most I see being grown for business is peaches and strawberries.  Many folks have small gardens but generally I’m not really familiar with gardening.  But Mom and Dad’s garden has truly amazed me.  It’s like oh my, you can actually eat the stuff that’s growing on that plant!  Before tonight I don’t think I’d ever seen a green pepper on a plant.  Mom is probably like Amy, we had gardens all the time!  And I guess we did but I don’t know, it just still amazes me.  Maybe because I have the farthest thing from a green thumb you can have!

Right now the kids are screaming at me to come watch the start of Disney’s latest movie Princess Protection Program. A movie is the perfect thing to top off a lazy Saturday!

I wake up this morning to find my Internet down.  Fine, I’ll wait it out a bit.  Sometimes this happens.  I take a shower thinking I might not have time later since I have to take Emma to the dentist later.  By 10, I have  given up and whisk the girls out of the house with me and over to my Mom’s to work.

My laptop can’t find the wireless router there.  Dad makes a few adjustments and hands me the wire.  It’s faster anyway.

One good thing…Mom and Dad were working from home and ended up spending time with the kids so I was left to work uninterrupted.

We leave about 12:30 after Mom has literally stuffed some type of new casserole down all 3 of us.  It really was good.  The girls have gotten wet and I need to get them changed so we can get to the dentist by 1:30.  I’m hoping Scott is awake from working last night and can take the girls so I can stay and work.  Emma really wants me to take her but I’m thinking I’ll stay.

Scott is awake and ready after wondering why the house had been so quiet.  The Internet is down still.  I’m starting to feel frustrated.  I decide to chuck it and go with Scott and the girls to the dentist.  We leave a few minutes early so we can get gas.  I didn’t want to stop on my way home.  We stop to get gas.  The machine won’t take my card.  I text Scott who is in the store getting drinks to prepay $20.  I wait at least 8.5 minutes and text him again to say we’re going to be late.  4.5 minutes later he comes back out and says they had to swipe the card at least 10 times.  He tells me to check our account to make sure we only got charged once.    I pump the gas and off we go.  We’re 5 minutes late to the appointment but I got a root beer and it’s not so bad.

Emma gets her teeth cleaned and there are no cavities.  More good news for the crazy day.

Back at home, I walk through the living room, close my eyes and chant “Internet, please work.”  It’s doesn’t.  I dial a few conference call numbers hoping I can remember the number since I’m 20 minutes late already and don’t want to drive anywhere so I can log in to look up the number.  I fail.

I try to call the cable company to get an ETA.  I accidentally hang up the phone as I often do.  I gather all my computer stuff and head out the door to my Mom’s office this time, telling the girls I love them and I’ll be back.  Scott tells me to be back as soon as I can as he has to leave early.  My call is until 4 and he needs to leave for work at 4:15.  I can do that.

I get to Mom’s shop and it takes several times to log in.  I log in.  I call the number and start to listen.  I decide to move my computer to another desk, take my phone with me and hang up on the call with the palm of my hand.

I call back in and here I sit on the call and wondering how the rest of the day is going to go.

I’m thinking it will end at Starbucks again.

This weekend ended up being quite busy.

Early Friday evening we had a quiet night here.  We had dinner and made a run to Wal-Mart.  We took the kids to IL’s about 7 for them to spend the night.  I headed to our church for the youth girls’ sleepover.  I didn’t plan to stay all night but stayed until 12:30.  We did a picture scavenger hunt around town and it turned out to be a blast.  A few highlights included the kids teaching a stranger how to do the Ice Cream Dance, singing the National Anthem in front of a store, creating a pyramid in front of Starbucks, chasing down a teenage boy and claiming he was Zac Efron and getting his autograph and cramming 7 girls into a phone booth in a very busy location. I was never so happy to be old and the one taking the picture.

We came back to play a few games and then all tried to learn Miley Cyrus’ Hoedown Throwdown which was a HUGE FAIL.  Even the girls that have danced for years didn’t seem to catch on quickly.  I tried not to feel so old with girls that were born about the same time I started high school.    The girls all played hide and seek in the dark around the church and then I was off when they started a movie.

Saturday morning I woke up and cleaned in preparation for middle/high school friends Michelle and Carmen to come eat lunch and visit. We went to a local restaurant and really had a great time catching up.  It’s always so strange to me how you can go YEARS without seeing your best friends and pick up right where you left off.

Jake and Jill showed up right as Carmen and Michelle were leaving.  They spent the evening with us in the pool.  We had some pizza delivered and of course great conversation.  Jill and I ended the evening by going to watch The Proposal.  More on that in another post.

Sunday afternoon we spent Sunday dinner at Buca di Beppo’s with my dad and family.  Great food as always.  Yesterday we spent the afternoon in the pool before spending a nice evening at Scott’s sister’s.

To top the weekend off, I finished reading The Time Traveler’s Wife.  Also saving that for another post.

Overall, a really busy but really good weekend.