Friday the 13th

Oooh It's Friday the 13th.... watch out for black cats and random ladders lol.

and now for the main event!

Favorite Fridays

This week's topic is: Way to De-Stress!

Mine has got to be having a pedicure and leaving my phone in the car!
Nothing like a relaxing pedicure with no distractions, and a nice drink.

Except now it's Shirley Temples for me :)

(photo via The Nail Bar)

Oh and you aren't mistaken, that's a bar on the right... liquor or wine with your pedicure or manicure, yes please! This local place has pedicures services with fun names like Pedi on the Beach, Toe-Tini, Detox on the Rocks, and Mint Julep. It's a pretty neat concept.

What’s your favorite way to de-stress?
Head over to Jen's and link up with your answer

It's the Little Things

My house is getting it's finishing touches on it's paint job right now! The other night, I was amazed to come home to a freshly pressure washed house and patios and couldn't believe that the week of painting was finally here! I like to call our little house the ugly duckling, she has potential to be beautiful and we are making that happen! Today the outside will be complete and by Sunday the interior will all be freshly painted, including the nursery! So, when I come back from staying with my parents (since can't be around the fumes) all I have to do is come back and decorate!

I couldn't be more excited!

Here's a little background on our house....
Our poor little house wasn't beautiful when we moved in but we knew it had potential. But right before we were to move in one of our giant oak trees fall on the right side of the house and injured her, as well as the whole right side of our yard. (You can see our roof patch where the shingles need to go). Well not only did the tree dent the house but it took out the landscaping on the whole right side of the yard... see the mark on the right of the house from where my raised beds were, now it's just clay and in front of that are trenches where the giant root system of the tree was. I can't wait for them to finish all the outside repairs and painting so I can start on my landscaping to get my yard back into shape. But that might have to wait until after baby. Anyways...


Here's the outside after the tree debris was gone:

And as of this morning:

and as of tonight:

Don't yall think that paint really makes a difference?

Now just the roof is left, then landscaping time, for a finished look!
It's funny how something like new paint has put a smile on my face all day :)

Top 2 Tuesday

Top 2 Tips

(money saving tips, beauty tips, DIY tips, cooking tips, cleaning tips, blogging tips, shopping tips etc)

1) Clean-up as you cook
 I always take the time to clean as I go, this was especially helpful when our dishwasher broke and we had to wash by hand. It's easy to let dishes pile up when you cook dinner but if you take the time to clean up as you go it's very rewarding in the end. It's nice to relax after dinner instead of worrying about that pile of dishes you have waiting for you.

2) Make a 'home' for everything in your house
When everything has a designated space it's easy to quickly clean up your house and makes it easier to find things. Make a specific spot for things and make sure to remember to put them there. It helps alot, we have a key hook for keys, bill/mail area, a basket for remotes, container for Wii and XBOX controlers, a basket for throw blankets, etc.  I've even started to train the dogs to put their toys in 'their basket' but it's usually me who ends up picking it up but they do know that is where their toys are lol.

Do you have any good tips you would like to share?

Head on over to Taylor's blog and look at other bloggers helpful hints!

miscellany monday

[1] In less than 13 weeks, we will be welcoming our new baby. Is it just me or does anyone else think that's just crazy!?! Besides the usual pregnancy mood swings, I'm freaking out because our poor baby doesn't have a nursery yet, it's still my office/guest room/storage/random place to hide things from company room. I had this great bedding set I found and was going to base the room off that, then I find out it's sold out and now discontinued... err shame on you Pottery Barn!

[2] This weekend I feel in love with the Mr Clean (or Mr Nice Guy, as Adam calls him) Magic Eraser. I kept seeing that commercial when the spray bottle talks about Mr Clean and his shine and wondered if it worked. Well OMG yes it did! I swear I have never been so amazed and shocked at how dirty the area by the handle on my doors was. Yes, it's the little things that make my day! 

((Mr Clean doesn't know I'm such a big fan, but if they want to send me some Magic Erasers I would be willing to put them to good use))

[3] Could someone get a note to the sun and tell it to turn down the heat! I'm over these 100+ degree weather... I am so ready for fall weather (and FLORIDA STATE football, of course!)

and lastly....

[4] We can't agree on a boy name, and the ultrasound tech was almost positive we are having a boy. This could be a big problem.

Join in the fun and participate in miscellany monday over at Carissa's blog