the best day ever!

I can't believe how quickly these birthday parties come and go.  It's already over!  I stopped myself during the party and just sat down and really tried to soak up everything that was going on.  I usually find myself worrying if there is enough food, if everyone is full, what is Kate doing and/or bothering, but not yesterday.  Once the guests started arriving I told myself to just relax and enjoy.  Enjoy the company of our closest friends and family and just enjoy this day with Kate.  She only turns 3 once and will only be a little girl for just a little while longer. 

My mom was gracious enough to keep her after church to let her get in a nap and so I could work on finishing everything up uninterrupted.  My mom dropped her off about 3:30 and I wish I would have gotten her sweet little reaction on video because it was priceless.  Although she knew it was her birthday party and I had been setting up for several days already, when she saw that cake she got SO excited!  It was so stinking cute.  I can't tell you how many times she thanked me and Joey for her birthday party and hugged and kissed everyone at the party several times and thanked them over and over.  It just made my heart soar to hear how polite she was!  And more than once she actually said this was the best day ever!

My awesome friend Vonnie took lots of awesome pictures and I should have those in a few weeks, but here is just a little sneak peek of some I took with my phone :)  Happy Monday! 

instagram, how I love thee

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome myself into 2012.  I finally broke down and got an iphone.  Up until last Thursday evening I felt like Carrie in the first Sex and the City movie when she was still rocking her pink flip phone circa 2004.  I love the scene where she is at the library about to get married with that big bird on her head and she's freaking out because Big wasn't there yet and she asks for a phone and Samantha gives Carrie her iphone and she just looks at it and hands it right back to her with "I don't know how to use this thing."  {Thank you for indulging me.  I still love SATC.}

Anyhoo, my contract for my pink flip phone was over so I took the plunge.  Now, I can say, how did I ever get along without it?  The apps, Siri, the music, the camera!  I'm already smitten! 

Given that the iphone 4S camera is 10000000000000 times better than the digital camera we currently own, most of the photos on this blog from here on out will probably be thanks to my phone.  Or until I actually break down and buy a real fancy pants camera. 

I ahhhhhdore Instagram and the vintagy feel it can give to any photo, making it instantly awesome.  You can follow me or find me or whatever you do on there: @leslielm

Also, get ready because the movie producer in me is about to come out.  Remember last year when I said I wanted to get my hands on an 8mm camera and make some classic old school home videos?  Well, it's going to happen!  I downloaded the 8mm app and the imovie app so I can start cranking out some cool home movies too!  I may start this weekend at lil bits birthday party! 

I promised an updated picture of our fireplace and you guessed it, thanks to Instagram, you shall receive!  Plus some other photos I took over the weekend just for fun! 

The chevron faux fireplace

Just a few more days till the paaaarrrtttay!  Getting excited!

The soon to be birthday girl!

Sign we picked up in South Africa.  Right by our front door :)

K's big girl room

Party prep underway!

My mamaw's typewriter

Good morning!

hellllllooooooo preschool!

As mentioned, this year's birthday theme will be all about school!!  You've probably never met someone as excited about school as my Kate and she has never even been to school before!  I think all of the awesome school supplies might have something to do with her excitement.  Ask my mom or dad and they will tell you that I too was a lover/hoarder of school supplies in my day.  I would make my weary, exhausted mother traipse out to every office supply store on the very first day of school with my list of school supplies.  She was a teacher and I know fighting swarms of kids and their parents trying to find school supplies after the first day of school was not a fun activity for her....but man, I l-o-v-e-d it. 

It's definitely crunch time around here with Kate's party next Sunday!  AH!  How does time get away from me so quickly?  I promised lots and lots of DIY projects.  Since it's getting so close, I'll have to post more DIYs even after the party. {insert sad slacker face here}  I also owe you an update on the 1/2 bath revamp before too long. 

Here's we go.  Let's start with the invitations.  Wouldn't you agree that the invitation sets the stage for the whole entire party?  Get an awesome invitation in the mail and you can almost guarantee and awesome time to come at the party. 

Since I'm sure Kate will be just like her momma and be completed OCD when it comes to organization I thought a lil file folder to keep all of the party invitation information would be totally appropriate.  I found this template here and embellished the outside cover.  I traced the tag onto some pink graph paper and added a flower and this cute little number 3 and some baker's twine.  Just so everyone what was clear what was inside that folder, I typed on the label :) 

I recruited my hubby to design the guts to the invitation with a less than elementary sketch/idea of what I had in mind.  Good thing we are a good team because what he came up with was WAY better than what I had in my brain.  2 flash cards and a class schedule fit perfectly in their folder.  I found some cute glassine envelopes at Hobby Lobby and sealed the back of the envelope with a strip of old school tape I bought on etsy which I also used to make flags for the yellow paper straws above. 

The invitations did exactly what I wanted them to do.  I got a text from my lovely sis in law as soon as her mail arrived and said that the invitation made her smile :)  Mission accomplished :) 

diy and laundry room redo

As I mentioned in my last post, I wanted to knock out a few projects around the house before Kate's birthday party.  About 3 weeks left to go and I'm proud to say I conquered both of my projects with plenty of time to spare! 

A side note quickly, I wanted to pass along the link to one of my favorite DIYs that I've done on Stockpiling Moms so far.  I used this same technique to make the EAT letters in our kitchen.  This post was Easter themed, no judging that I'm already a day late. 

http://www.stockpilingmoms.com/2012/04/diy/

Okay, back to room redos.  The first room I tacked was the laundry room.  Our laundry room is a small room right off the garage so not only do we do our laundry there, it's a mud room of sorts, I keep a calendar handy so I can see as I'm walking out the door what bills need to be paid, and last but certainly not least, it houses my husband's kegerator.  It's not my ideal spot for it, but until we can tackle the garage and get it organized and cleared out I was informed it has to stay there for the time being.  Trust me, I've already got big plans for that tiny space it will free up when the kegerator is back in its rightful place...in the garage.  I have a little wire rack for laundry detergent and dryer sheets and such and if I can swing it, I wouldn't mind having a little stool or some kind of small chair so you can sit and take your shoes off.  Or, let's be real honest, it will serve as a place to dump stuff (i.e. my purse).   But, anyhoo, until the day when the kegerator triumphantly makes its return home, I'll deal with the hops and barley smell that greets you everytime you walk in from the garage. 

Before....blah

Other side before

First order of business was paint.  I used the paint that I had left over from the kitchen peninsula and barely squeezed out enough to do this room.  Thank goodness it was a small room and the paint covered well, I got away with only 1 coat.  The color is Grand Hotel Mackinac Blue by Valspar.  I'm starting to get a crush on Valspar paint too.  It covered our new construction drywall well and costs way less than my other crush on Sherwin Williams paint. 

I already made hubs put up this message board wall when we moved in so I could keep track of everything, so the frame just got a quick coat of Martha Stewart's Punch mixed in whatever the cheapest paint they had at Home Depot. 

Next we took down the ugly white wire shelving that was in the laundry room.  Since the laundry room can be seen from the kitchen I wanted it to look as pretty as the kitchen.  I bought 3 corbels and a 6 foot piece of MDF board from Home Depot and painted those bad boys with the same Punch by Martha Stewart paint. 

Once the paint was dry on the walls and on my shelf, Joey got busy and hung everything back up on the wall.  I put some laundry room-ish items in jars for the shelf and put some rolls of paper towels in that basket that I spraypainted yellow.  It's actually a refrigerator basket that I found on the side of the road by someone's house when we lived in Erlanger.  Their trash, my treasure.  I love that thing.  It's already been several colors, but yellow has by far been my fav! 

The rug is from Urban Outfitters and they must have read my blog post about that tree shower curtain and how mad I was and must have been scared.  I swear I ordered that rug on a Thursday and it may have been on my doorstep by Friday.  If not Friday, for sure Saturday.  Crazy. 

To finish off the room I added this friendly little reminder as we walk out the door every morning.  I totally think it's worth seeing everyday, because sometimes let's face it, I just don't want to be nice.  But, as I've learned, there are lots of people out there who are facing some things in their life that are really not nice, so if I can be nice to just one person who's otherwise having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day, then it makes it worth while.  I saw the tutorial for these letters over at Life As a Thrifter and actually may need to go to rehab to curb my addiction to silver spraypainted/anthro knockoff letters.  You will see them again in a little room tour of Kate's bedroom to come sometime soon.

So, that's it for now.  Phase II of this project will be to replace the white 6 panel door leading into the hallway of the house (not the one leading into the garage) with an old friend.  Yes lovelies, the screen door is making a come back.  We had a screen door on our pantry in our old house and it is patiently waiting for a new paint job and some new hardware. 

Phase III of the redo, several years down the road, will be to replace the flooring from linoleum to some fun black/white hexagonal tile. 

So, there you have it!  Way too much information about our lil ol' laundry room!  Next up, a powder room revamp.