8 before 28

Only hours until my 27th Birthday, and I have a good feeling about this upcoming year!  I've noticed a lot of bloggers jumping on the "bucket list" train or "30 before 30" as seen here, but I don't really want wait that long. So I have decided to make my own mini version.  Here we go!

Renovate the kitchen and laundry room
     This has been on the books for some time now... if only HGTV would knock on my door.

Take my 1st Cruise 
      Hopefully the destination will be Greece.

Make a front door wreath for each season
     And if I'm ambitious, I may make an additional wreath for each holiday.

Make an upholstered headboard for our bed
     I feel like we're not really adults until we have a headboard. And why not make it a pretty one?

Try two new restaurants each month
     I'm sure there are 24 local places just waiting to be discovered!

Take a hot air balloon ride
     See the world from a little higher up.

Take my vitamin every day 
     Sounds simple enough, but not as easy as it looks...by writing it down maybe I'll actually stick to it?

Take ballroom dance lessons
     How did I make it through my life of dancing without learning ballroom?


Now we just have to wait and see how I do!

Disappearing Act

Now you see it

Now you don't

If only cleaning was that simple.

But I have found a solution with minimal effort. 

Let me introduce the 'Tray System'

I have had this tray in the china cabinet for almost a year. While it is a nice decorative piece, it is even better as a functional item. Last week I placed it on the coffee table and informed my dear husband that this is where all of our 'junk' goes. Then before bed we simply take the tray to the kitchen, place the items in the trash/dishwasher/etc and return the clean tray to the clean coffee table. 

Maybe if we didn't drink so much wine in front of the TV we wouldn't have this problem, but since we do, here is the perfect solution!

Half empty or half full?

Forget about the half empty, half full debate... when decorating the home, I've found it best if the wine glass is to-the-top full!

See the exhibit below...

Above, you will see the materials needed to make the bulletin boards for the laundry room cabinet renovation. Notice the level of wine in the glass.

Below, you will see one completed board and an empty glass.

But have no fear, when the entire project is complete, the wine has magically reappeared (and seems to be a little more full)!

I can't wait to finish the rest of the cabinet... but that will just have to wait!

Cheers!

May Flowers

We've made the inside if the house "ours" but now we're trying to personalize the yard. I've found it a bit intimidating, but my dear husband has jumped right in. Last year we he planted some Asiatic Lilies under our kitchen window. They were gorgeous with big blooms, then all the petals fell off and they looked like boring sticks in the dirt. We figured we'd plant something different there next year.

But...to our surprise, this spring they came back bigger and better than last year (as bulbs do, which we have since learned)! And they bloomed very quickly.

24 hours later:

This makes me really excited about what the rest of the yard will look like soon!  We may have green thumbs after all!