Things I Love Thursday 10.30.08

I. Love. Wicked! And I get to see it (for the 3rd time!) on Sunday at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta! Lori, Brooke, Beth, Marcie and I will be heading down for a day at the Theatre the Cheesecake Factory :) I'm sure it's going to be just as fabulous this time as it's been the last 2.

I've always been a fan of musicals. For a long time, my favorite was Les Miserables. Then, a few years ago, Lori introduced me to the music of Wicked and I was hooked from day one! The story is based off of the Wizard of Oz and chronicles the relationship between Elphaba, the wicked witch of the west, and Galinda the good witch. It's about love and friendship and betrayal and seeing past what's on the outside. The sets are AMAZING, the witty lines are hilarious and the songs are soooo catchy. I'd tell you about my favorite "Wicked" song, but I can't possibly choose just one!! So, I'll leave you with some of my favorite lyrics for the weekend...

"For Good"

I've heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return
Well, I don't know if I believe that's true
But I know I'm who I am today
Because I knew you...

...I have been changed for good :)

The Kitchen Project!!

It's FINALLY finished, and I couldn't be more pleased!! It was quite the undertaking, but we made it out alive. Becuase I'm a little OCD, I coudn't just paint a room and then have a refrigerator with smudges on it. Sooooo, in addition to painting the entire room, I also had to clean the entire room, which, of course, added a few hours to the project, but, I believe, made a big difference in the end.

Before, we had white walls and white countertops and white appliances and white floors...and I was SO over the white. We're very slowly replacing our old appliacnes with new black ones, but other than that, hadn't made any big changes in the kitchen. I had been collecting paint samples for about a year, trying to find something that was bright and cheery, but would also go with our oak cabinets. I had also been envisioning a black and white kitchen (see reasons below). I thought about greys and yellows and reds and, after seeing a beautiful kitchen in a magazine that was a mix of mossy greens with black and white, I had my mind made up! But, I just couldn't find the "perfect" shade...until one Sunday I was watching HGTV and they painted a kitchen, with oak cabinets and black and white accents. The color they used was THE color I had been looking for, so I immediately went to the HGTV website, found the episode and and paint color name and off to the Home Depot I went. Well, we buy all our paint at Wal-Mart (a. because we're cheap and b. because it seems to be good durable paint) so I went and was able to match the color with a sample they had...YAY! So, I got a gallon and some trim paint and some other supplies and we were on our way...until we applied the 2nd coat and it still looked like poo...so we went BACK to Wal-Mart got another gallon, applied the 3rd coat and from the second it was done, I have loved it! Marty keeps saying "Well, it's very green!", but I think that he really does like it! It's definitely been a work in progress, but like with all my other projects, there wasn't a lot of money to spend, so I had to be creative. I had to find things in magazines and, instead of ordering them, had to come up with inexpensive ways to implement the look, and I think I've succeeded. I was able to pull together exactly what I had in my mind and am happy to finally reveal the details and my cheap decorating secrets and of course, the finished product! So.........TA-DA!!!!



Before...check out those cool vertical blinds on the sliding glass door.

After! And now we have new curtains, that I LOVE!!! I found them at IKEA for $15 (for 2 panels!!) and they were perfect. I just had to hem the bottom a little and buy a pretty black curtain rod for the top...and the vertical blinds now live at the dump. :) Also, I refinished the tabletop and painted the bottom of the table black, which I love.

Before...

After! I've collected random black and white trays and dishes over the past 2 years to display on top of the cabinets. My rule was that I couldn't spend more than $5 on any one piece...and I didn't!! Most of them came from the Corelle outlet in TN and only cost $1.50!

Before...nothing exciting here...

After!

Before...we had painted that far wall a nice khaki color when we first moved in, but it had to go too...

After!

Before...

After!

Hello, boring white wall! Before...

After! And, you can see our random white rubbermaid recycling center there on the right...BUT my super crafty step-dad is making us a nice shelved compartment that will attach to our exisitng pantry for a much prettier recycling center.

Some super cheap "art", here. I moved that mirror in from the guest bedroom. I framed 4 black and white fabrics or papers in $3 frames from Wal-Mart and printed a pretty "G" on printer paper for nice monogrammed touch.

This is just a collage of fun things we've collected over the years that just so happen to make a nice focal point when you first walk in the door.

One of my favorite things ever!!! That frame is supposed to be one that people sign at your wedding. Well, we didn't open it until our honeymoon, so we kinda missed that whole thing. Soooo, I got that pretty patterened TISSUE PAPER (for free, even!), cut a hole in the middle and Voila! Perfect matching matted photo!

Plain cork board covered (with hot glue, I might add!) with some fun gingham fabric and held up by a pretty silk ribbon bow. Cute and classy and oh, so easy!

I actually made the little cafe curtain with leftover fabric from the big curtains after I hemmed them.

The dishes behind the glass cabinets that started it all (thanks, Brooke & Lo!!). I got them a few years ago for my birthday and immediately began making plans for my dream black and white kitchen!

So, there ya have it...another finished project at the Gilbert casa! And, we're exhausted. I'm thinking the next project will probably be one of the smallest rooms in our house...the hallway...maybe when we've recovered from the kitchen overhaul. You know, in the spring :)

Things I Love Thursday

A long time ago, I did a weekly post called "Things I Love Thursday" where I would share with the world something or someone that I absolutely love. And somewhere along the way, life happened, I missed a few weeks, that turned into months that turned into years. BUT, have no fear, because it's back! I feel like, these days especially, there are so many things to complain about...the economy, the never-ending political ads, finances, to-do lists, did I mention money?...so I believe it's extremely important to really take time to focus on good things-things that make me smile or laugh or just feel good inside. And so, without further ado...

One of my new favorite things is Pandora. Marty introduced it to me and I've been hooked since day one! Pandora is a "music genome project". It's totally free, you just have to register your e-mail address as login information, then you're ready to go! You set up your own radio stations so that you only hear music that you want to hear. For example, I set up my "Shane & Shane Radio". This very smart "music genome project" find Shane & Shane music and then searches its database for all other music that sounds similar to Shane & Shane music, then plays a variety of artists in that same musical style. If it plays a song that you don't like, you give it a thumbs down, it makes note of the type of song/artist that it was and doesn't play songs like it again. It's so great!! I'm currently alternating between Shane & Shane Radio, Mariah Carey Radio, Boyz 2 Men Radio and Wilson Phillips Radio (nothing like a little variety, huh?). So, check it out and let me know what you think!

And ps...the kitchen is coming along! We've still got curtains to make and touch ups to do and things to hang on the walls and put into place, but we're getting there! Check back in a few days for some pictures...

The Week In Review...

I've been a little absent for a few days, but it's for good reason!! This past week was filled with lots of things that have kept us busy busy busy!!

For starters, last Saturday we spent a GORGEOUS Saturday at the Mars Hill homecoming festivities. It was so nice to meet up with old friends and make new ones! The weather was more than perfect for a day outdoors and I have a really cool farmer's tan on my left arm to prove it!

Then on Sunday, we picked up one of our cutie-pie god-daughters, Eden, so that she could have a week-long visit here with the Gilberts. She's 2 1/2 and, as is the case with most 2 year olds, a total handful! It's always such a shock to our systems to go from zero kids to keeping kids for days on end, but we love getting to spend time with them. And, I think they really enjoy getting a change of scenery and some time with us too...at least that's what I'll keep telling myself :) Because Eden's attention span is that of a 2 year old, we did lots of things every day...we took walks, colored, played babies, sang (she always wanted to sing the Ariel song!), watched The Little Mermaid or Mary Poppins, read and of course, had naptime. Here are some snapshots of our little cutie:


She was very intently looking for her "pider" (spider) who she made friends with her first day here.

Stopping for a quick pose in the yard on our way to the swings.

Enjoying a nice walk before lunch.

Eden and Marty watching Mary Poppins. (Eden LOVES to sing "Let's Go Fly a Kite"!)

We got a true taste of dealing with everyday life on top of having a kid around. Our time with her was nothing short of packed full of places to go and things to do and people to see! We had friends over for dinner on Monday night. Tuesday night, my brother graduated from Basic Law Enforcement Training in Waynesville (Way to go, brother!! He starts his new job with the Canton PD on Thursday. I'm so proud of him!). My mom came over to help out with Eden while I was at the dentist and at work. Then on Thursday, Eden's mom (Eli), almost 5 year old sister (Bella) and 9 month old brother (Caleb) came to pick her up and stay for a few days to visit. You can imagine the chaos craziness of all the people in our little house!! It was so nice to see them all...and while it's nice to have a silent house again, I feel like I'm having a little withdrawal!

While Marty's been away at a conference, I've spent the day diving head first into our kitchen re-do. No major projects going on here...just a lot of painting and reorganizing and FINALLY getting things to look how I want them to look. I've got pretty new curtains and some fun little crafty projects to help spruce things up. We've chosen "Sea Grass" as our paint color and I LOVE IT!!! It's so light and refreshing and I can't wait to see it on the walls! As with most projects like this, we'll spend more time preparing the room than we'll spend painting it. That's ok though, because everything is in need of a good cleaning. I spent the afternoon with lots of Clorox and Lysol and can't wait to have it all looking brand new!! We hope to have the painting finished on Monday or Tuesday and then I'll spend the rest of the week getting everything put back together. Be on the lookout for some before and after pictures soon!

And now it's getting late and for the first time in a week, I have no one to wake me up in the morning!! So, I'm going to go take advantage of some serious sleepin' Good night!!

365 days and 30 pounds later...

During the summer of 2007, I was disgusted with myself and my weight and my clothes that no longer fit. I had tried what seemed like every diet or weight loss plan in the book and nothing seemed to help me get back my skinny self. I had tried grapefruits and calorie counting and milkshake grossness. And some of those things even worked...for about 5 pounds of weight loss, and then the uphill battle began again. I had gained THIRTY pounds since we got married in August of 2004 and I was ready to have my old body back!!

My mom started Weight Watchers in the late summer of 2007, and after a few months of seeing the weight litterally melt off of her, I was intruigued. I couldn't affort the monthly costs to visit meetings or do the online thing, so she helped me know what I needed to know and off I went! I could eat healthy. I would get good amounts of veggies and fruits every day. And, most importantly, I could eat ice cream and chocolate. And so I became a points counting machine!! I'm sure my friends were all sick to death of me analyzing every single piece of food that went into my mouth, but they were patient with me...and right there with me when I couldn't pass up a piece of birthday cake :) And sure enough, I started losing weight! 4 pounds this week and 2 pounds the next and so on and so on. It was working!! My goal was to lose 35 pounds. Of course, over time I got bored with it and would slip up and gain a couple of pounds in a week. And while it's been a year and I'm still 5 pounds away from my goal, I'm ok with that. Because I'm THIRTY pounds lighter than I was on this day a year ago!! In celebration of my new self, here are some before and after shots...

Here I am at my brother's wedding in July 2006.


And here I am in August 2007.

(PS...Brooke has also begun a weight loss journey and looks TOTALLY different now!! Way to go, friend!!)

And the after shots...WOOHOO!!!