If You Held Your Breath, I'm Sorry You Are Dead.

I have a love-hate relationship with my entryway. I love it because it allows me to enter my house. I hate it because it is long, narrow, and has no light, save for a ridiculous sunlight that gives a minimal light. It's a total waste. 

It also has a builders grade light - you can see it's weird round alien glow in the picture below. I just have to continually remind myself that slow and steady wins the race. Not everything can be tackled at once. I mean, it totally could, but when you are poor household renovations are few and far between. 

Oh, I know what you are thinking - this chick is crazy! She just went to the Azores. She's a baller. Well. I'll have you know that no, I am not a baller. I was lucky enough to get t-boned downtown in January of 2010 and the insurance settlement paid for it. 

I should have purchased a shirt that says "I got t-boned by a d-bag and all I got was this AWESOME TRIP TO THE AZORES."

That kind of sounds dirty. 

Which makes it even BETTER.

All that to say, is that I am po'. So, I did what any poor homeowner would do. I painted. 

Here is my crazy, cheesy friend Denise. She is my slave and I made her paint my entryway while I sipped a mojito and took pictures.

No, I'm totally joking. I cut in and she rolled the walls. I'm not THAT BAD of a friend. Gosh.

Then my sexy-pants husband did this:

Then, in preparation of my sister and her family coming to visit, Denise and my sister Kari helped me decorate... 

Before you scroll to see the pictures, I would like to advise you that there its kind of a mess. I like to keep things real. Then I cleaned up a little bit. So you get TWO before and afters. Super duper! 

So on this side, I'd like to get a little stool to sit right under the key hanger and then I'll get a little tray or low-sided basket to put shoes. I'm also going to put a little box on the top to make it look used and done.

This side is our catch all. Bryan's guitar, my purse, our fruit/veggie delivery baskets, the outdoor chairs that we use to sit out front, mail, etc. It gets a little crazy. 

Let's play a game. Can you find the missing drawer? Cause I freaking can't. Bryan lost it in the move. I have a plan for it, but for now, its ghetto-tabulous. 

Like I said, I cleaned up the entryway and took more pictures, but because this post has been sitting in draft mode waiting for me to post it, I'll just get this up. I'm pretty sure I promised it to you weeks ago....And I'm sure you sat at you computer this entire time waiting with bated breath. We've already established I'm lame. 

From what you can see, what do you think?

-Megan

Ps. I still love my floors.

Pss. That guitar is the bane of my existence.

Psss. That art was painted by Bryan's grandma Carol. I wish you could see it. Unfortunately I had to open up the door to get some natural light in there. Hate those windowless doors. 

Sometimes I Cheat

Sorry I've been MIA. Stress has been kicking my butt.  But I wanted to leave you with this: sometimes its better to mod podge recipes to their card instead of writing them.

It's good for the soul.

Lit Up

I'm gearing up for a huge entryway post - but until I get it finished we'll have to settle for looking at the lighting fixtures I am debating. Aren't you excited? I know I am!

First of all, when you walk into my house, you are greeted with a narrow-ish entryway. Its probably about 5 to 6 feet wide. Walled. It's like stepping into a CAVE. It doesn't help that my front doors are solid wood and therefore, give no natural light when the sun is out. Super duper.

The entryway opens up to a "great room." At first glance, you can see my dining area, living room and sitting area. I decided that to create a cohesive flow between the rooms, whatever color I painted the entryway would be the same color on the farthest wall that you see when you enter the house.

So... I did.

And I love it.

Hallelujah.

Then my hubs hung some stuff in the entryway... My sister, Denise and I decorated and it looks okay. Not finished. Just okay. It looks even better when there is not crap everywhere.

Moving on.

I have already picked out the doors I want.

I just need it fabricated for my double-door entryway. Cottage-y ain't it?

Sooner or later I'll have my doors, but until then I need a good light. Here are the ones that are in the running.

Source

Source

Source

Source

Source

I'm sure you have noticed a theme. These are all 'outdoorsy' and are pretty small. There is a reason. The space I have to work with is small. The ceiling heighth is only about 7 1/2 - 8 feet. I can't have a grandiose chandelier in there.


What I thinking is that I'll put a nice bright light in there and add four recessed lighting units later on. I'll have two switches, one for the outside lights, one for the main lighting fixture in the entryway and a dimmer on the recessed lighting. That way I have full operational control over what lighting is on, and how bright it is.

I already have my favorite... I just need to show Bryan, measure a few things and hopefully we'll pick the same one! :)

Audits and Things

We've had the auditors at work the past few days so I've been brain-dead by the time I get home. I've had enough juice to get to the gym twice and that's about it. In lieu of a real quality post, I'm gonna answer some questions from a questionnaire that I read about on Grass Stains.

Here we go!

When was the last time you tried something new?
Last night. I went to a class at my gym called R.I.P.P.E.D. It said it was for all levels. IT WASN'T. It was for people that can lift weights and do many reps of fast paced lunges and jump - while breathing. 


I liked it. But I'm not 'there' yet. I need to gain some endurance - but I'll go back. Probably in a few weeks.


Who do you sometimes compare yourself to?
Oh golly, I find that I subconsciously compare myself to everyone. To Bryan, to Denise, to my sisters, anyone that I come in contact with. Wondering if I should live/write/work/love/pray/decorate/create like they do. Wondering if there is something wrong with me because I don't live/write/work/love/pray/decorate/create like they do. And then I just kind of shrug my shoulders because I'm doin' alright. :)


What’s the most sensible thing you’ve ever heard someone say?
Hmm. I've heard lots of sensible things in my life. I wrote about how Sherry from Young House Love said that instead of being paralyzed by indecision to just try something - then you'll figure out if you like it or not. That's pretty sensible. It's one of those things you should know and yet when someone says it a light bulb goes off. 


What gets you excited about life?
Man, I suck SO HARD when it comes to life. I am perpetually looking to the next thing. There is this never-ending dialogue going on where I am never satisfied with where I am, what I am doing, what I just finished. I'm always like, okay whats next? What's coming? Where am I going? With all of the rumbling in my head its hard to get excited about anything! And more often than not I get depressed or worried or stressed out. I'm working on it. I'm trying really hard to LIVE. And I'm excited about that.


What life lesson did you learn the hard way?
Ew. I learned so many lessons the hard way. I grew up fast. Too, too fast. I had a hard childhood that pulled the rose colored glasses from my eyes way to quickly. I saw a lot of ugliness and not nearly enough beauty. It was hard. I believe that part of why I am the way I am (detailed in the previous question, a bit) is because while growing up, I was wait-wait-waiting. Waiting for the ball to drop. Waiting for a savior. Waiting for things to get better. Always latching on to the next thing that could get me through the present.  Yuck. I am going to try to keep my kids kids. I want them to be safe, warm and innocent for as long as I can hold it together. And I hope I give them enough of a foundation to learn less things the hard way. 


What do you wish you spent more time doing five years ago?
Five years ago I was in a stand still in my life. I had made the huge mistake of moving in with my boyfriend and his father in a city where I had zero support system. I was hiding in New Hampshire with my lovely sister, her husband, and my beautiful niece. I spent quality time with them, made memories with my niece that I will treasure forever and ever. I recouped and cried and got my life together. Sometimes I wish I could go back and pause that moment. I wish I had stayed longer. I could've. But I was in SUCH A DING DANG HURRY to get a job. What an idiot. 


Do you ask enough questions or do you settle for what you know?
There are somethings that I don't question. Either because I feel like I have sufficient knowledge of it or because I plumb don't want to know! (Like, about drugs. I'm watching Weeds right now and it can be a tad uncomfortable. Haha) But I like questions. I ask them often. I want to know more. I try to learn new things. I want to learn electrical wiring but I'm freaking terrified. So, I keep pushing that back. On average, I learn, I read, I adapt. It feels good to learn. I wish I had felt that way in school though. ;)


Alrighty! That's all I have for ya. I speed typed this on my lunch so pardon the errors. 


-Meg